What I get from that is FM really favours the knows the club myth.
What I get from that is FM really favours the knows the club myth.
If the supporters aren't going to riot at the potential news of a new manager then they can go fuck themselves tbh. Where's Oxford United at....
Oxford City - 2035/2036
Transfers In
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Transfers Out
Emmanuel Kone - Swiped from Chelsea's youth academy in 2028 the wingback come winger never made a first team appearance for us which is a shame as he looked promising. A decent loan spell in League Two with Bristol Rovers was followed up by two seasons with League One/Championship club Mansfield. He joined our feeder club Sunderland on loan last season and in the summer we accepted a measly £450K for him.
Frederic De Meyer - Another failed effort after stealing the Belgian striker from Liverpool back in 2028 at a cost of nearly £3M in compensation. Loan spells with Portsmouth and Sunderland offered a glimmer of hope but he was never finding a way in our starting line up given the quality of our front two. CSKA came in with a sufficient bid and we had to say yes. We will make 20% on any profit at least....if any.
Juan Antonio Munoz - Aged 22 now and five loan spells later I just don't think he's going to make it. Another who was stolen from the big boys, Man City losing out on the clearly talented centre back but when you can't do it with Portsmouth, Brentford, Sunderland, Bournemouth or West Brom then you're not going to break into our squad. It's that simple. We'll probably cash in this summer.
Sam Crane - Another poached youngster and currently on his third successive year loan with Championship club Sunderland. We might make some money on him but it's unlikely he'll get a chance. Similar pattern followed to most youngsters I bring in. I'm doing something wrong.
Bjorn Vos - £37.5M we signed him for from Ajax in 3031, a decent start to his Oxford career short lived. We loaned him to Leicester the following season and for the last two he's been a bit part player for us. £50M bid had to be accepted even if I feel he had something more to offer. I have options on the right wing both younger and cheaper.
Ruben Sa - One of our first "big" signings as we brought him in from Real Madrid for £66M. Whilst he never rediscovered the goalscoring touch he had in Spain, he did a more than sufficient job on the right of midfield for us but wage demands and the wrong side of 30 played against him and if he played more than 5 games this season he'd have got a contract renewal. Well, no. We sold him to Spurs for the same fee we signed him for. Decent business.
Season Summary
League
The summer saw the club placed under a transfer embargo but the decision not to bring anyone in was already decided long before we knew the club was being sold. As it happens the sale didn't actually go through until December! It was a shit takeover too as no extra funds (not that we need them) and taken off the stock market.
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Crazy!
Domestic Cups
EFL Cup
We were low on numbers all season (maybe 26 players in total at the club now) so we opted to field the kids, or rather the few kids we had left and the players not good enough for regular first team football. It didn't matter as we went out with a wimp anyway.
FA Cup
We kicked off in the 3rd round against Rotherham and again we put out the same team that got beat badly by Watford but this time we turned up and recorded a 7-1 win to set up an away encounter against Brighton. We managed to win that 2-1 before drawing feeder club Sunderland in the 5th. Four goals later and we were in the quarter finals which is where we started to take it a little more seriously. Quite the ask given our league form was good, we were still competing in Europe and this was make or break type stuff but our 3-2 win against the midlands side Leicester validated our belief that we were good enough to win, especially as Man City were knocked out in an earlier round. WBA were to be our semi final opponents, a nice day out at Wembley for them but we were to return after a 2-0 win to face Chelsea in the final. I have no words.
Champions League
No backwater ties but facing Barcelona brought back all manner of memories, mostly the last minute elimination a few seasons ago. We both got off to good starts on Match Day #1 as we defeated Turkish side Galatasary 5-0, Barcelona beating PSV by six without reply. And so followed a similar pattern only we couldn't beat Barcelona home or away. It genuinely felt like we were jinxed by last minute Barca goals.
Just why?! Still, the teams that often qualified for the knockouts meant it didn't really matter if you finished 1st or 2nd these days but for us, our second place finish meant we'd be returning to Spain to face last years finalists, Real Madrid but they would venture no further after finding themselves caught in the headlights at the John Woodley Stadium and we absolutely trounced them 5-0. We lost the return 1-0 but as is always the case when we get a good solid lead in the first leg, rest, rest, rest and ooh, game time for youngster.
Juventus were drawn in the quarter finals but we still remembered the drubbing we gave them a few years earlier and evidently so did Juventus as they struggled to land a punch. We won 5-1 in Italy before scoring five in front of our own to progress 10-1 on aggregate where we'd face Barcelona once more.
Our form against them meant they were favourites but after scoring two away goals in the first leg, despite losing 3-2, we had to feel confident we'd reach the final. We only needed to win 1-0 after all, that was possibly. Just go chockablock at the back in the 90th minute, right? Well, we didn't score one.
Ooof! Not without its cost as Adel's injury meant he'd miss both the FA Cup final, the final few league games as well as the Champions League final where we'd face a hurting Manchester City.
We had faced Manchester City 26 times prior to the European final and had lost half of them but it wasn't impossible and we knew this from experience. Back in 2027 we had beaten them on penalties after a 2-2 draw in the EFL Cup final. We had beaten them two years ago in the FA Cup final too so we had potential. We also had a great reminder that last season they knocked us out of the Champions League semi finals....
Well....all I can say chaps is fuck Man City.
Madness. Crazy. Beautiful Proctor. last minute goals. Love Yan Canti. This game.
Legends the lot of them. Treble winners.
Time for bed but tomorrow will see wholesale changes to the club as we look to go for a spell of dominance ourselves. We will probably bid farewell to Franck Ott, Mohammed Hassan who just seems to cling on to his contract on a yearly basis and probably offload one of the high earners. Maxwell?
I'll do a nice sizeable update when I wake up and get to the first game of the season. We need to figure out what we're going to do in the market, which direction to take, who to sacrifice off the wage bill and hopefully this is where things take off. Our last league title seemed to get forgotten amongst the quick fire seasons.
League
FA Cup
EFL Cup
Europa League
(lol united)
Champions League
If one image summed my save up, this would be it.
Arsenal winning 2 titles and also 2 European trophies? Shut the save down Smiff, it's broken.
What happened to Liverpool in 2030/31? They were everywhere until then and suddenly vanished.
I assumed I knew the answer but you may have the wrong season as the following year was Klopps final and Liverpool finished 7th...at the same time that bring Klopps last season...he left a day after winning the Champions League.
It's definitely a fall from grace as I'm seeing with Man City, I imagine it'll be temporary.
For Arsenal, blame Tuchel although more recently blame Guardiola.
He's amazing. A few years ago he was down about eight nil against Barcelona with fifteen minutes to go and took off a defender for a striker.Originally Posted by Jimmy Floyd
Did he score 9?
So in February I got my youth intake and as expected it wasn't much to write home about but I took a picture purely because of the young Welsh striker from Wrexham, it stuck out as that's my place of birth and I thought at first maybe it's because of me as manager until it dawned on me that Rhys Rood is actually English and not Welsh.
Anyhow....mediocre so I anticipated just releasing them after trials but that Welsh striker.....well fuck me.
So come on.....how do I make this one realise his potential? I already fucked the next Gazza after all.
I'm looking at my old CM save just to see who the big managers are in 2024. Three managers are considered World class. Two are fake Spaniards but the remaining one is Thomas Schaaf. In reality he took them to a Bundesliga and cup double. In the game he won the league cup before being sacked in 2009. He'd be back three years later some poor stints at Monchengladbach and Bielefeld. Three league titles in 4 years and a bunch of League Cups. He also took them to a UEFA Cup victory and a Champions League final. Knows the club, y'see.
The guys with Superb ratings become a lot more interesting. Matthias Sammer. In 2018 he left Dortmund after winning everything the German and European game had to offer. He then went to Stuttgart and won two league titles and a Champions League. He has a Liberian called Lance Kirby leading the line.
So a respected ex-player followed by ... Paul Bracewell. After dossing about in Barsnley, Burnley and Huddersfield he finally found his feet at Derby. He won promotion and then took the League Cup. Relegation quickly followed and a nothing spell at Grimsby was followed up by success at Man Utd. A Champions league in 2020 being the pinnacle of his spell. He celebrated in true turncoat fashion as he took up the vacant Man City job and promptly won the League Cup again.
Next up is Sampdoria's Roberto Mancini He's easily one of the longest serving managers in the game having took over in 2003. Took him about a decade to win his first title and now seems to steadily win them at 5 year intervals. No proper cup success, though.
Michael Skibbe is something of a German journeyman. He spent a fair bit of time in Leverkusen but the ride didn't really get going until he joined Bayern to help them out of the second division. Within two years (2014) they were back at the top of the Bundesliga and gracing Champions League finals. Momentum waned and, League Cup aside, he hopped off the Hertha in 2021. They won the World Club Championship but he now plies his trade at Energie Cottbus. A rags to riches tale that has seen them promoted to the top table and challenging Werder for the title.
In terms of real oddities, Steve McManaman's managing Valladolid. Michael Laudrup, having done nothing since his playing days, has spent the last decade managing Denmark. Ex Crazy Gang defender Andy Thorn is managing England. He took them to a World Cup final where he lost to Laudrup's Denmark.
More stats? Dave Watson has bought and sold the most players (306 & 242 respectively). Nobody else comes close. Jurgen Klopp's at Bielefeld. He is perennially stuck in the German lower divisions. Speaking of failures, Gary Neville's at Grimsby. John Terry won an FA Cup at Brighton, Tony Adams manages Wimbledon. In a really odd move Paraguay are managed by a 40 year old Wrexham coach. Coach, not manager. Coach. I didn't think that was possible. Pep Guardiola has done nothing much. He's another stuck in the Spanish doldrums. He's currently managing Badajoz.
Gareth Southgate is at Moor Green.
Matthias Sammer's spending is miles ahead of everyone else, too. £600m compared to Schaff's £300m. As far as I'm aware, the only active player from the database is a 42 year old Javier Saviola. I'm running out of names to check if there's any others. 1021 games (530 goals, 277 assists). Acceleration and pace is at 4 which probably gives him a couple more years. Actually, his determination stat is 20. He's not stopping, although he's starting to get those injuries only physio and surgery can deal with.
@Smjffy
Keep him learning at the club until he's at least 18. This is the time to tutor him(if you still can in 20) and teach him potential PPMs or train his other foot.
This is assuming your facilities are top notch. This is where he'll get the best of them.
Once he hits 18/19 it's time to decide if he's good enough to play a role in the squad. If he is, then great. He should play all cup games and any meaningless Champions League ties. He should also be the rotation option striker to come in.
If not, you should loan him. Look to what clubs promise him and their facilities. You're much better off sending him to a Championship club that'll play him whenever he's fit, than a Premier League club that will also see him as a rotation option.
Assuming you have a few clubs offering him first team football, choosing between their facilities is the next step. If still tied, look at the manager. You'll see his preferred formation and playstyle. For example, there's little point sending your 5"6 speed merchant striker to Tony Pulis and his Rory Delap tactics.
Once you've done this, assess him again the next season. He should have improved a fair way with regular football. If he's still not ready for a role, then off on loan again.
If he gets to age 21 and he's not ready for a role in the team it's likely time to sell up. His value should have increased and he'll be ready for a club somewhere. Make sure you get a decent fee, or a good loan-to-buy deal. However if you can still drop in the 50% of next sale fee, always make it mandatory. It may lose you a few million now, but can make up for it later. Choosing a lower club is also a good idea here.
For example, both Real Madrid and Villarreal want your player. Madrid have offered £20m but wont budge on the next sale fee. Villarreal have offered £10m with the 50% fee because they have less money in the pot.
Madrid have an assortment of the best players on the planet. Your guy is going to be on the fringes there and even then, may end up replaced next season.
Villarreal have a lesser squad. Your guy will be playing every week. He'll get better and increase his value. Real Madrid then come back for him a season or two later. Now valued higher, they offer Villarreal £50m, who accept and their player moves. You gain £25m of this and £35m in total and your club is much better for it long term.
That's pretty much my tried and tested player development guide.
Saison Cinq - It was a difficult year. Seemingly unimpressed by the Europa league victory, the board wasted no time in demanding we level up and secure our status as a Champions League side. Having stumbled to third last year, another top three finish was far from guaranteed especially considering the talent we lost in the summer. Following Rayan Cherki out the exit door were Nzonzi (Retired), Bostock, Taarabt, Koulouris, Zinga and Grimaldi's golden boy, Amadou Onana. With the team losing it's creative spine and expectations high, I set about securing players who possessed a certain unpredictability coupled with league experience. Maxwel Cornet arrived from Lyon (bosman), Amine Harit from Schalke (£5m) and Wylan Cyprien from Nice (£7m). Man City cheerleader Benjamin Mendy joined in the eleventh hour for a measly £2.5m.
On the pitch we started slow. A narrow defeat in the Super Cup to Liverpool set the tone in Europe as we went on to lose our opening four games in a group consisting of BVB, Manchester City & Sevilla. With qualification no longer plausible, we recorded successive victories and edged the Germans into third sport ensuring European football after the winter break. PAOK & Zenit provided little competition en route to yet another quarter final however, a trip to Naples proved one hurdle too many as we lost both legs 1-0. The Italians would go on to win the competition.
Our slow start in Europe was mirrored domestically as we spent all season chasing the runaway pack of Monaco, PSG and surprise package Stade de Reims. Try as we might we were unable to bridge the gap and a winless April left us ten points adrift with four games to be played. The board in their wisdom had decided enough was enough and I was duly sacked. Quite why they refused to let me see out the season is beyond me. I was of course replaced by Vladimir Weiss (not that one) who somehow conspired to finish outside of the European places altogether.
After 238 games I left the club with quite the parting gifts. Former academy prospects Albin Lafont & Kelvin Almian had both agreed to return the club were they made their name. Maxine Caqueret was plucked from Lyon, Aliou Traore from United and Mohammed Ihattaren, PSV. Grimandi was wetting himself over the latter.
My adventure in France will continue as I relocate from the South of the country to the very North.
Fair to say we made a bad call.
Appreciate the post, Fox. I'll try and use it moving forward.
I keep all my better ones in-house, but then in the Hungarian league you're loaning out to teams who get changed in a pig pen and are coached by local witch doctors.
Tough scene Manc, but Caen is a nice place to wash up.
Spain 2024 is tough. I've been watching for years how the Spanish clubs skate dangerously close to the wall and now I'm playing some 4D chess with Rayo Vallecano. They want one of my strikers who's recent run of form is completely pricing them out of the tribunal. I've got £6m to play with but there's no way I'm touching it. Our awful facilities are leading to injuries and the squad is full of young, angry idiots.
Heh. One of my coaches is heading towards Osasuna but they've asked to delay it because they have too many staff members employed. The AI is thick at times.
chairman sells the captain and only good gk at the club for a measly 5m when he's easily worth double, club isn't even in financial troubles
Oxford City - The Squad.
Goalkeepers
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Defenders
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Midfielders
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Strikers
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Subs.
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Done.
Now we start our community shield game and hopefully a rewarding season. I wanted to bring in another left winger and a striker to ease the burden on the front two as we finally cashed in on Mohammed Hassan who joined Inter Milan for £69M. Franck Ott last seasons Champions League star left for Man United for £53M (but he's ageing tbf) Clement Pinault our back up left back joined Bordeaux for £35M whilst seriously really mean it as last chance saloon for Juan Munoz who left for Bournemouth for the season.
Wound up playing through a whole season of the Champ Man save.
Villareal 2024/5
We finished 4th in our first season in the top flight. We flirted with the Championship (because Spain is fucked) but our striker started drawing blanks and I could never really settle on a side. We were in 3rd for most of it but 4th's enough for Champions League footy.
Played 38, won 18, Drawn 8, Lost 12. Mediocre in a normal universe but this game is broken beyond doubt. +5 goal difference courtesy of 42 scored, 37 conceded. Betis took another title and a Champions League whilst Cordoba (the last Spanish club to dominate Europe) faced administration for most of it. Hercules found their way to a UEFA Cup final in a relegation season. Our stadium expansion and facilities have punch a whole in our finances. I've got £3.3m to spend and they have given me suitably low expectations.
In terms of new faces, I brought in Billy Kerr on a free to give the defensive midfield some stability. After a shaky start he looked absolutely sound. At the front, Segio Barbero's not the machine he was in the Second Division but he still managed 19 goals to take the league's top scorer. Mercuri's transfer to Levante is ... apparently going ahead for £1.4m. Their financial status is Insecure so I wouldn't count that done just yet. It'll be another year looking for freebies and youngsters. I totally forgot I was managing China too. We almost shat the bed in the first round of qualifying against a plucky Palestine side. The second group features Japan and the Saudis so this might be my lot. Wigan's Chao Lin still leads the line for them. He hasn't played in two years and looks way better for it. What I do hate is having to call players up just to see their attributes.
What happened elsewhere? Birmingham won the Premier League on a shocking 66 points. First Division champions Charlton won the FA Cup. Not to be outdone, Sunderland won the League Cup and then bottled the play-offs.Werder Bremen won a fourth straight Bundesliga, a Cup and League Cup. A clean sweep. Mancini's Sampdoria took slightly less time to win the league again.
So who's fallen the furthest? Bayer Leverkusen were last in the Regionals a decade ago. Imagine playing amateur footy at a 29,000 ground. Aston Villa and Southampton are a Third Division fixture now, as are Sheff Wed and Everton. In the other direction, Enfield are now one step from the promised land. A rise that wasn't exactly rapid. They don't even have a proper stadium name. Their Chairman's called Tony Lazarou. I like Enfield. Southport are a Premier League side. When the voting came round for player of the year, they had a nominee. He was shit so I voted for him.
Lastly, a club reorganised in 2000, FC Gutersloh are a Bundesliga side. And Javier Saviola has another year on his contract. 37 appearances and 8 goals this season. Legend.
Fair to say we made a bad call.
Appreciate the post, Fox. I'll try and use it moving forward.
That's quite the clanger, isn't it?
Brutal
I got a USB A to USB C cable for connecting my iPad to my pc so hopefully I can get Touch updated with all the graphics, skins, kits, logos etc I want now. Oldham are in contention for promotion in my first season despite having no money, however gone into a slump of draws that needs breaking if I'm going to stay in a play off berth.
Let me know how you fare out with that.Brutal
I got a USB A to USB C cable for connecting my iPad to my pc so hopefully I can get Touch updated with all the graphics, skins, kits, logos etc I want now. Oldham are in contention for promotion in my first season despite having no money, however gone into a slump of draws that needs breaking if I'm going to stay in a play off berth.
Oxford City - 2036/2037
Transfers In
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Transfers Out
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Summary
League
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Domestic Cups
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Exhausted after last nights all nighter so this update was a bit of a slog. I'll give a nice update about Robbie Pritchard soon as he's clearly going to be a top player.
Next Season
I think we're about to enter a period of dominance as the league just felt different to normal, I thought City would still take it by virtue of their depth but no one else really posed us many problems. It was the amount of drawn games that stopped us wrapping things up much earlier so maybe start building for the future and add 1/2 for the first team. Financially we're in Rood health, our stadium is nearing completion to add an extra 17,000 seats and our youth facilities are now right up amongst the best so it's time to capitalise. Unfortunately for the save however, I have three days left before I start working again so enjoy them whilst they last.
Robbie the Welsh Wonder.
Robbie.I was going to update but pictures do it justice.
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Last edited by Smjffy; 14-06-2020 at 01:52 PM.
You would think after nearly twenty seasons as well as Liverpool's real life success that I would have clocked that the Club World Cup is now every four years and in July with a shit load of teams in it. Is that right?
Have any of you been in it on FM20? If so, do you use it as pre season or do you still set up for pre season as you normally would? Will I be fucked physically for the upcoming season? Quick answer please as I need to sign loads more if that's the case.
I think FM put that into motion.In late 2016, FIFA President Gianni Infantino suggested an expansion of the Club World Cup to 32 teams beginning in 2019 and the reschedule to June to be more balanced and more attractive to broadcasters and sponsors.[131] In late 2017, FIFA discussed proposals to expand the competition to 24 teams and have it be played every four years by 2021, replacing the FIFA Confederations Cup.
The new tournament, planned to start in 2021, would be held every four years instead of annually, would feature 24 teams and 31 matches. It would include all UEFA Champions League winners, UEFA Champions League runners-up, Europa League winners and Copa Libertadores winners from the four seasons up to and including the year of the event, with the remainder qualifying from the other four confederations. Along with a new Nations League competition, revenues of $25 billion would be expected during the period from 2021 to 2033.
In March 2019, FIFA decided to expand the Club World Cup starting in 2021.
I hate Spain. Betis have a proper monopoly going on. They are the only side unbeaten in the league and there's about 15 points between them and the rest. Even with the Champions League money, I can't crack that. Another thing is how our reputation really does us no favours in the market. Spanish clubs really don't like using the loan market which, when you haven't got a B side, ruins youth development. They have to be born ready or you have to be willing to throw them in the firing line. Looks like another year of freebies but they all seem to be over 30 and kinda limited.
On the plus side, Mercuri's transfer failed miserably but he'd already decided he was leaving so couldn't put a contract down. Billy Kerr was homesick for Scotland but nobody came in for him. He's changed his mind now. Again, I hate Spain. The Barcelona job did come up but I thought better of it. The club has money but seemingly spend it on binmen players.
I'll say this as well: Fuck Spanish fixtures. With the Champions League and Cup games, I've played two games a week for the past 4-5 months solid. I have to keep the squad small for the budget but I need spare bodies for those midweek death marches. If I sneak some silverware I might beat a hasty exit, although the expectations keep the pressure off.
Good stuff, Smiff. Pritchard looks bonkers for a 17 year old.
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Milan
I've just finished up my first season at AC Milan. Ended up coming 2nd behind "Zebre" a.k.a. CR7's Calcio Licensing Division, who were unstoppable (saying that though, we were top with two to play, albeit they had some games in hand). Finished five points off after 38 games as we shat the bed against Udinese and dribbled home. Wouldn't have mattered.
Wound up playing a 4-2-3-1 after a bit of fiddling. Fullbacks are the key by the looks of things, although ours struggled to remain fit enough throughout and I've not quite got the AMC's firing on all cylinders.
Winners
- Raf Leao - easily first choice by the end of it, notching 20-odd goals. Outshone loanee Rebic and retired Zlatan
- Sandro Tonali - bit of a no-brainer, but bought him in for £30m or so and he ended up dominating the midfield alongside Bennacer
- Romagnoli + Musacchio - rock solid pairing at the back. Musacchio managed to earn nearly a yellow-a-game, hilariously, so he's doing his bit for charity via the fines system
- Calhanoglu - assist king
- Diego Laxalt - outshone Hernandez and scored some vital goals. Not bad for someone who looks like the Predator's albino little sister
- VAR - we seemed to blag penalties in almost every other game. Long may it continue
Sinners
- Zlatan - piss poor, which is a shame. Just not mobile enough and took the right option to retire at the end of the campaign to save me having to give him the bullet
- Theo Hernandez - never really got going, save for the odd game. Started injured for a long while. Hopefully steps it up this season as he's got the talent
- Juve - just fuck off. Can't wait until Ronaldo retires
Season 2
We had some great news on the youth team front as a "golden generation" was rumoured. Out popped a cracking keeper, left back, winger and central midfielder who all look capable, if callow.
Transfer-wise I replaced all the misshapen parts who were gunking up the midfield (mostly the shit Spanish wingers and random Eastern European cloggers who Milan kept signing before I showed up) and bought in some high-spec cosmopolitan pass-wizards, raiding the usual suspects of Ajax, Napoli and Dinamo Zagreb. Onwards!
Am I the only one terrible at managing the wage bill when it is free agent time? Hoovered up a load of better players than the ones I had and released some wasters yet always end up 10k a week over budget.
I hardly ever pay much attention to budget in FM. Normally because I manage bigger teams so I just sign whoever and it usually works out
It's generally worth it if those players can lead you to a cash jackpot somewhere. Hard in the English lower leagues though as the only real way of doing it is a tasty FA Cup run.
I've reached autumn 2022 - finding myself, after an away goals CL qualifying shitshow in Zagreb, in the Europa League group stage with the rather curious trio of Chelsea, Aberdeen and Legia Warsaw - and because of the Qatar World Cup, they've crammed four of the Europa group games into September, including two lots of Thursday-Saturday double headers.
I judged that the only way to actually do this (with the first pair of games) was to just bin off the first game at Stamford Bridge with the B team, which was duly lost 4-0, and then went to Legia 48 hours later with a fresh proper side who found themselves up against a shit shower of tired bodies, including a 38 year old Wes Morgan (pace 3) who began the game on 65% condition and didn't get any better from there.
Loved it.
That's mad scheduling, I've seen the game just bin off Qatar due to 'club protests' before.
That's mostly how my Spanish season's went. They do league games on Saturday/Sunday with the majority on Sunday. Champions League is on Tuesday/Wednesday with any games in hand or Cup games also squeezed in midweek. And it's 2001 so Group stage footy is 12 games and then the knockouts. My squad size is 27 and I've needed every one of them. Even some greyed out keepers because two of mine love to get sent off.
I've had 48 hour gaps between Europe and league before but I've never had back to back European games. The schedule is somewhat like this:
Saturday 7th Honved (league)
Thursday 12th Chelsea (Europa)
Saturday 14th Legia (Europa)
Tuesday 17th FC Alphabet Soup (cup)
Saturday 21st Kisvarda (league)
Monday 23rd Debrecen (league)
Thursday 26th Aberdeen (Europa)
Saturday 28th Chelsea (Europa)
Tuesday 1st Oct Szeged (league)
As such the league is going to have games in hand all over the place and even in the European groups, the games aren't happening evenly so we'll end up having played 4 times while others have only played twice. All this so Michel Platini could build a sex dungeon made out of solid gold.
I'm sure I had one on FM15 where it contrived to give me important games on consecutive days. Can't remember what the circumstances were but I was glad of my over-stacked squad that day.
Fm bugs scheduling cup finals whilst players were on international duty was an absolute bitch.
When I last updated, I was halfway through my 3rd attempt of getting out of the National League South. Torquay were the team to chase down, and despite drawing both of my games in hand, I was able to claw my way to the top spot, thanks in part to important wins against playoff contenders Dulwich Hamlet and Wealdstone.
This was part of a really impressive 9 game winning streak that kept us at the top, despite Torquay also hitting form. It all came to a head on the Easter weekend, where, with 6 games to go, we hosted the Devon side and dispatched them with aplomb thanks to 3 first-half goals. This gave us a 5 point lead with 5 games to go, and despite stumbling in our next 3 fixtures, we saw off Brackley Town (who had manoeuvred their way up to 2nd by this point) in the penultimate match to confirm the title and with it, promotion to the National League.
The 2nd half of the season was the best we’ve performed in my three seasons as manager, thanks to some new players bedding in and a step up in quality in the first-team in general. Morgan Roberts in particular was in fine form, winning the National League South Player of the Month 3 times in a row, and ending up as our league top scorer with 17 goals. With his contract running out at Northampton, he is definitely one I will aim to pick up permanently.
Evan Pierce also deserves a mention – he racked up 22 assists in the league, 8 more than anybody else. He also chipped in with 7 goals and is under contract for another season. Hopefully he copes with the step up.
Finally, the player of the season as voted for by the fans. Warren Harris should not be performing as well as he has when you consider his attributes, but 17 goals and 15 assists in 38 games across all competitions show how important he was to the team. He’s a team leader and a fan favourite, but my loyalty to him will be tested as we step up next season. I want to keep him around but we will definitely need a new right winger to take over the first-team duties.
We were also knocked out of the FA Trophy at the 3rd round, to match our FA Cup exploits – Welling United dealing with a rotated side 1-0.
Next season, we need to make some fairly tough decisions. A number of players integral to our promotion will not be good enough to perform in the National League, and will need to be upgraded. We have £500k in the bank thanks to our cup exploits, but we’re still having to groundshare in Ruislip with Wealdstone. I have about £3.5k/pw to work with regarding the wage bill, and so the scouting of the youth rejects will begin in earnest.
Managed to get King’s Lynn to the promised land of the Premier League. 11 seasons in all so not quite Smiffy but not bad as 4 of those were in the Conference. Nearly threw it away was 10 points clear with 8 to play but ended up finishing second and needing to win the last game just to go up.
New stadium is now being built will be for 19,000 hopefully plenty of room to increase that capacity. But, in the meantime I’m moving to Lincoln. Only a minor 65 miles from home but never mind.
It's over. 3rd place finish and a Copa del Rey final. 2 points off second place Leganes but a whopping 24 off Betis. Barbero with the top scorer award again with 27. I don't know who Spain have ahead of him but 47 for the season is a grand haul. Now let me list out our problems.
Games where our keeper threw a 5
Carlos Parades - vs Celta (4-1 league defeat)
Cesar Fernandes Garcia - vs Nantes (4-1 CL defeat)
Segio Diaz - vs Osasuna (3-3 league draw)
Cesar Fernandes Garcia - vs Atletico Madrid (3-2 league win)
Segio Diaz - vs Sporting Gijon (Cup 1/4 final we won on penalties thanks to Garcia)
Cesar Fernandes Garcia - vs IFK Goteborg (2-1 CL defeat)
Cesar Fernandes Garcia - vs Real Madrid (3-1 league defeat)
I can't trust any of them, although Diaz probably had the best run in the side. 7.13 average rating vs 7 for Parades and 6.78 for Garcia.
Now let me detail our disciplinary record.
Red cards
David Murillo / Enrique Rios (2-5 defeat to Betis)
Cesar Fernandes Garcia - (2-1 win against Atletico Madrid)
Carlos Paredes (2-3 defeat to Gijon)
Hugo Ramos (2-1 defeat to Barca)
Jason Cook (3-1 win against Gijon)
Jorge Mateos (3-1 defeat against Gijon)
Jorge Caro (3-2 win over Rayo)
Sergio Diaz / Enrique Rios (2-2 draw vs Copenhagen)
Luis Cardoso (2-1 defeat to Goteborg)
Jorge Caro (2-0 defeat to Valladolid)
Sergio Diaz / David Murrilo (2-0 CUP FINAL DEFEAT TO FUCKING LEGANES!)
8 red cards, 61 yellows for the worst disciplinary record in the league A league record for yellow cards but Real Madrid's 14 reds (2008/9) sounds like it'll never be beat.
4 red cards, 11 yellows for the worst disciplinary record in the Cup Top work, lads.
Horrendous cunts. 11 players with reds against them this season. 9 players have 5 or more yellow cards. Far and away, Adjei (our 'combative' Ghanaian midfielder) has 16. Best player in the league by miles but he got pissy with the press because I have the common sense to sub him when he's on a booking. Note the reds in the Champions League as well. We had a second phase group of Copenhagen, Anderlecht and IFK. We should've coasted it.
Berbero is our all-time leading scorer at the no-age-at-all of 25. 138 in 217 appearances. One booking all season. We've got £11.5m to allegedly spend in the summer. I'll be looking to ditch the old wood and hopefully get in some players that aren't fucking mentalists. We're getting a lot of fitness worries with our defenders so I'm hoping at least a couple retire.
Javier Saviola has extended his playing contract for another year 41 appearances for Manlleu. He is 44. He has now played more games at that club that he did at Barcelona. 1099 games, 545 goals. He is their record goalscorer but is some 340 appearances shy of Juan Jose Garrido's record. His pace and acceleration remains at 4. There is life, there is hope.
Last edited by Shindig; 15-06-2020 at 09:05 PM.
Saison Cinq/Six - Sacked like a dog in April 2024, it wasn't until January the following year that I returned to management. So why Stade Malherbe Caen? It certainly wasn't for their history, a second place finish in the 1992 Intertoto Cup being one of few highlights. They are the very definition of a yo-yo club facing relegation/promotion on a combined eight occasions since the turn of the century. This is a trend that has continued in FM as they now find themselves back in Ligue 2 after failing to establish themselves as a top flight side last season. I chose Caen simply for their youth academy. Historically they have nurtured talents such as William Gallas, Thomas Lemar & Raphael Guerreiro and they were now producing the next generation of French footballers. In my first season alone we received over £60m in player sales.
Taking over the reigns with the club firmly in mid-table, I saw out the season in a rather unspectacular style improving our position by just the one place (11th). Nothing more was expected however, it was a big summer ahead as boardroom talks had resulted in the requirement for us to reach the play offs, something which wasn't possible with the current squad. Bankrolled by a few million I decided to raid my old club for players learned in the art of anti-football. No less than six players were poached from Toulouse, including midfield talents Kalidou Sidibe and the forgotten man of French football Maxence Caqueret. More bodies were needed still, Edouard Mendy arrived from Milan as our new No 1, Simon Deli was plucked from obscurity to marshall our back line, and failed wonder kids Wesley Fofana & Thimothee Pembele strived to get their careers back on track.
At the half way stage we were in the thick of it laying in 4th just two points back from top of the table Amiens. The leagues bigger sides Auxerre and Lens would keep us company after the winter break, that was until our consistency paid dividends and we established a ten point lead with just ten games to go. The lead in the end proved too healthy as we were crowned Champions with two games remaining. Lens would join us in the top flight along with Red Star who surprised everyone winning both playoffs rounds.
Some tidy business was done in the summer so I'm expecting a somewhat comfortable ride in the top flight, though we face PSG, Lyon & Marseille in our opening four fixtures.
If anybody was looking to get the current FM but didn't want to pay RRP (and also didn't want to fund crime by getting it off CD Keys or something) the current Humble Bundle for BLM costs £25 and includes FM20 and a bunch of other stuff.
https://www.humblebundle.com/fight-f...justice-bundle
I haven't had the will to do a proper update but here's how things went at Ferencvaros:
21/22: Looking for a third title in a row, the conversion to a diamond was successful and the new look Ramic/Mazzonetto strike pair led us to our most comfortable success yet. Ujpest started the season with 9 wins in a row, which had me rather alarmed, but then their manager was poached by Serbia. They foolishly appointed my old Vidi enemy, Marko Nikolic, who, fresh from having crashed Vidi off the moon and forced a two year rebuild, proceeded to drive Ujpest into the sea as well. They collapsed to a horrible third. In Europe, we beat Bayern, Spurs and Valencia at Fortress Groupama but were thrashed by all of them away, sending us out in third. We got Benfica in the Europa League and won on penalties after both legs were 2-0 to the home team. In the last 16, we got Hoffenheim, and for some reason they and their spearhead Joelinton proved a bridge too far. They went all the way to the final, where they lost to Real Madrid.
22/23: For the first time, we ballsed up the Champions League qualifiers, going out 1-1 on away goals to a very good Dinamo Zagreb side. A lot of injuries and a mad Qatar-driven schedule ensued, but some canny rotation has seen us to a joint lead with a resurgent Debrecen at the very early winter break (there's no club football beyond October in 2022). In the Europa League, we got Chelsea, Legia Warsaw and Aberdeen, and were twice nobbled 4-0 by the former (the Premier League is hegemonic in this save) but were too strong for the other two and went through in second.
Some of my more interesting players:
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I'm working on developing something like the Brazil 1970 formation to try and get a few more of the above in at once.
Any good tips for starting up a youth only challenge (ie from the youth setup etc)?
Loving your updates Jimmy.
Ramic could be a one club man given his personality.
I should have added that 22/23 will be the first year that Hungary will be playing for two Champions League (qualifying) places, but literally all of it is our doing. It looks like we can drag them to 10th/11th on our own but we will need assistance to go beyond that. Zero other Hungarian sides have made it to either group stage since the first season.
I played 15 seasons in Sweden once and I got them up to 7th or 8th in the coefficients singlehandedly. Then, literally overnight (in game time), some box got ticked and the market value of all the players in the league got multiplied by a factor of 10. I don’t remember playing much after then but i imagine there’s some poorly coded threshold that, if you surpass, can probably make any league the best in Europe. Wouldn’t be surprised if its gotten fixed since like FM13 or whatever
Italy's manager decided to retire mid-way through a World Cup campaign, his replacement (plucked from obscurity) was duly sacked after the tournament and now they have a third manager in a fortnight. Saviola's evergreen career is having an unwanted side-effect: His regen won't spawn for ages. There's a first-gen regen doing the same thing (930 appearances and counting) except he's managing in the Conference so he'll probably live forever.
This save is throwing up some weird things.
First attempt appears not to have worked, possibly the packs I have used? Also a pain with an overlap between mobile and touch stuff with no clarification if they are compatible with both.
First season with Oldham complete:
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I can't get into the local team save(moving house isn't helping) so I've plumped for a different project in Paris FC.
Background
For those who don't know, the team known as PSG these days is an amalgamation of 2 clubs in the 70's. Paris FC formed in 1969 and merged with Stade Saint-Germain in 1970. However in 1973, Paris FC broke away from PSG. This did not go so well for them though. They spent a few years struggling and then dropped out of Ligue 1 in 1979 and have not returned since.
Big brothers PSG didn't shake many trees to start with but managed a couple of titles and good cup success after. That is, until 2011. Since the blood money came in PSG have been relentless. They've taken 5 of 6 titles on offer(as of start of FM19 save) since and in the cups adding 4 Coupe de France and 5 Coupe de la Ligue.
In the real world the latter cup has been stopped to help ease the season scheduling, but I'm not sure if this goes along with what the game has coded.
In short, the rivalry is right there. PSG are now the most successful team in every competition in France, bar Ligue 1.
Surprisingly the most league titles by a team in France is only 10 with Saint-Etienne. So the challenge is to try to take Paris FC to the very top and take down the noisy neighbours.
Lovely choice. The Coupe de la liga does indeed get binned after the first season.
Halfway point in 31/32
In previous seasons there's usually been a runaway leader at this stage that I'm at least 10 points behind so if it's ever happening this is my chance, and really it's the only thing that can make up for not defending the Carabao Cup and enjoying all the free crates of energy drink that come with.
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