Was expecting disappointment but what a surprise!
You got any championship quality players, or is a complete overhaul necessary?
Was expecting disappointment but what a surprise!
You got any championship quality players, or is a complete overhaul necessary?
He's got to get through League One first.
Can't really say anyone was the hero given how the season went, but it would have been Bugarin had he scored in the 4th minute of injury time in the Playoff final when clean through, but he hit the post.Originally Posted by thommo
Cracking effort. The 46 game season combined with the 3 cups makes it a real bloody slog to get through. Disheartening to slip up in the playoffs twice, but brilliant that you've made it through now, on penalties and with 10 men for added drama too.
Who's been the season hero? Is Bugarin still chipping in?
Still, 216 goals for us is not too shabby.
I'll keep the core of the squad and just buy quality where it's available. Not sure how much difference there is between League 2 and League 1, I'm hoping not a lot.
I did want it so much after the support for the save. I realise now I can't let this club and their 300 season ticket holders (+ 1,200 more interchangeable fans) down.I never doubted you.
Can't help but feel it was us fans that got you this promotion.
We are going to the top!
Whenever I've done a lower league save I always find the hardest steps to be from Conference to League 2 and Championship to Premierleague.
That's not to say League 1 is easy, but it's similar to League 2. I normally take 2 seasons to get promoted again.
Two seasons would be lovely.
Christ. So he does…He's got to get through League One first.
RIP Yevsitcom
Oxford City Season 2029/30 - Some Things
I whinged again at the board about our Youth and they caved again.
Leaving our Facilities looking like so:
This is the WARCHEST for League One
More on that later, but basically my board are morons.
And we have three players going to the World Cup!
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Your tranny budget must be one of the highest in League One.
Nobody wants to buy any of my players (well, Minamino and Jota both rejected Spurs' contracts) and my board won't let me sign players over 23. So annoying.
I'm a twit
that tactic looks like a fish hook or anchorI keep getting the feeling that my players match ratings lag behind what the AI gets in their games. Even in seasons I'm absolutely cruising, and games I'm winning 6-1 like this one, often barely anyone cracks an 8.0. Is this a sign of simply using an overpowered tactic?
An arrow pointing down.
do we count keepers when describing how a tactic looks?
if so, this is the reverse challoner arrowhead
Switched my computer off at the plug when I was pissed and have thus lost a couple of games (that's bad), but it included the game where our best player got injured for 4 months (that's good).
6 points from 12 for Immigration FC now. I have two 5 star players, then my next best starter has 1. I have no natural CMs in the squad except some lads with like 3 tackling, so my ENGINGE ROOM is my 2nd and 3rd best right backs, slowly being retrained to CMs.
On the plus side, I have another four 5 star players recently signed, but they can't be registered until roughly half way through the season.
One of my starting XI has 3.5 grey stars
Considering my sole aim is to concede less than 10 in the league all season, this start to season two was not appreciated:
I'm a twit
Oxford City Mid Season Update 2030/31 - League One
Our first season in League One starts with a look at the finances and a realisation our current position is unsustainable.
With wages at over 50% of income and even factoring in some of the tax bill was due to prior year profits, we're on a run rate of losing over £1m a year. Things get worse as well when you consider that the wage figure there relates to League Two's bill, which was about £40k per week. Now we've gone up and the promotion clauses have kicked in it's more like £55k. Yet my insane board are happy for me to spend £5.5m on transfers and £65k on wages.
On the plus side, prior year sales mean we've still over £5m in the bank (as of now) so we have some time, but we need to get out of League One and into the Championship as soon as possible.
Transfers
With the above in mind, deals were kept to a minimum over the summer, with a couple of loans renewed and the following new players brought in:
On loan from Man City for the season, will probably play left wing.
£190k from Burton. We needed a centre back and this chap will do nicely.
Quite excited about this one. Released by Man Utd and wanted ten grand a week, but we got him for £7k + a 50% of any next transfer fee. He's costing over 10% of my wage bill, so he'd better deliver.
On the transfers out side of things a couple of players were released and we pulled in £700k from the sale of Bignami, who finally got a work permit but with only a year left on his contract it was clear he wasn't going to sign another one so we cashed in.
Facilities
Two huge things happened here. First our 3rd upgrade on the Youth Recruitment front:
And perhaps more importantly, the board have finally agreed our training facilities should be upgraded. Under the guise of a reward for me, the perverts, but no matter, it was much needed. My players seem to develop more on loan (at any club) than they do while playing for me.
FFP
Oh yes, my favourite subject has come to haunt me, we've failed it.
The game doesn't explain how the limit is calculated, but I assume it's different for every club and is based on a % of income, so given our wage % of revenue it sort of makes sense that it's caught us. We're still only pulling 2,300 fans a game in League One, the lowest in the division by a mile and it kills us. As well as being under a transfer embargo, my board also won't let me renew contracts, or rather they will, as long as my players accept £20 a week.
No matter, a couple of sales/loans out in the January window should sort things.
On the Pitch
It's been brilliant, and at the turn of the year we're in the playoff spots.
There have been a couple of humpings, but the best result of the season so far was this on the opening day:
No idea whether we'll hold on and I'm not that bothered, we've already secured survival and that was the main aim before a ball was kicked.
Leicester up next in the 3rd round of the FA Cup.
Just found the FFP rules. Max 60% of turnover on wages, with U21 players excluded from the calc.
Is the Oxford Derby actually counted as a proper one?
In real life?
In the game, no.
It does say we have 'top billing' when we play each other though.
My youth intake is absolute toilet, so much for having 'Excellent' Youth Recruitment.
The run in message hasn't appeared in my inbox, so I'm going to have to do it myself.
Coming to the end of our first season in League One and we're still in CONTENTION.
(a) vs. MK Dons
(a) vs. Charlton
(h) vs. Blackpool
(h) vs. Lincoln
Blackpool game will be huge and while beggars can't be choosers, if we are to make the playoffs 4th or 5th place would be a right result.
Huge win in Milton Keynes and pleasing to see we didn't get humped by Charlton.
All on Blackpool.
Blackpool was brilliant and never in doubt, but results elsewhere meant we needed to follow it up with a win over Lincoln to both guarantee a playoff spot and finish 5th. In previous seasons we'd have fucked it, but this time the LADS cruised home. They've come of age.
wullie, we are coming for your boys!
Hold me.
It's on. Be some kick in the hole for Crewe and their 92 points too
Well...
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I wish I had your wage bill. Clarke Corness looks brilliant but I wouldn't be able to afford those wages. I'm predicting a 3-2 extra time win in the final. Bugarin off the bench for the winner!
Never mind my prediction, 4-1 is bloody comfortable. How many goals did Hines manage over the season?
Also, the board are only "pleased"? Wow, talk about a tough crowd. What was the pre-season expectations? If I so much as draw against a top-half team, my board are bloody ecstatic so I feel like you've got some hard-to-impress bellends up at Oxford.
We were expected to battle bravely against relegation, but my board are such wankers. 'Rewarding me' with training ground upgrades and pissing about with takeovers. Tossers.
Hines is the real deal I think.
He got 27 this season, but was rampant in the run in. I've tied him down with a 3 year + 3 more optional years deal as well. Mwahahaha.
2034, Barca never learn.
Holy shit.
Oxford City Season 2031/32 Championship - Summer Update Stuff
Starting with the finances for our League One campaign.
Another season, another loss, but we did spend £1.6m on ground improvements that were much needed. Wages were back to a reasonable level of turnover too, even stripping out the income from player sales. Heading into our debut season in the Championship we have £6m in the bank, leading to a WARCHEST of:
Flush with cash still, we did two things next. First, sent the chaps on their first training camp abroad.
And tied Corness down for 4 years.
Obscene terms, but I genuinely don't think we'd have gone up without him.
Another whinge and another upgrade to our Youth Recruitment.
And talking of which. Sad times, but sadly he was technically bereft.
Facilities are now at a semi-reasonable level.
The Championship
First news on our upcoming season was a far more sensible set of FFP rules. Gone is the % of revenue bollocks and we're now dealing with pure profits and losses.
Which will be helped by this news.
Six times what we received last year and ten times what we've been used to over the last few years.
Hopefully more media exposure will lead to the lazy fucks of Oxford coming to see us. Not a high bar to beat.
And finally, the opening fixtures.
Scary stuff. I'll do the summer business in another post as I'm still looking for a centre back to round things off.
A couple more successful board requests.
And having had a request to improve the training facilities turned down I then asked about the Youth Facilities instead.
If I'd known that was gonna cost £1.6m I might have thought twice. Down to £2.5m in the bank now.
That is 2 great seasons of promotion and investment in the club. Need the crowds to start turning up now, otherwise it's going to be hard to keep the bank balance in the positive, especially with the wage budget and the inevitable running costs behind the youth setup and recruitment.
I'm down to the final 5 games of the season with Slough, and we've got a favourable run-in and the injured players returning. Another playoff appearance is definitely in reach.
Summer Business
Distinctly underwhelming in terms of new arrivals now, but in looking for players I could attract I realised I simply don't have the pulling power or financial muscle to take this team to the Premier League and beyond without taking a punt on youth.
So in now, we have:
Had him on loan from Southampton a couple of times already, this time we got him permanently on a free.
From Aldershot for £250k. Unbelievably perhaps, he becomes our first choice left winger.
Former Leicester man, £500k from Bromley.
On loan, but much needed.
£700k from Ajax, he won't join for 18 months, but that means I get to enjoy their youth training facilities for that time and he's already been given a work permit. No idea how.
Also £700k from Benfica. No work permit this time, but he has technicals at 16 that are better than most of my first team players.
West Ham away to kick the season off in a week.
I think I'm gonna sell either of these guys, but not sure who...
Aguirre seems the better keeper (in places where it counts), aside from physicality
A point per game was the target and after 10 games we're 40% ahead of that.
Hines and Koumis have been brilliant. Just as pleasingly we don't seem to be haemorrhaging cash either. Attendances are up to 4,500 on average (so it might be time to think about asking for a new stadium) and with the TV money we're covering the wage bill.
Please tell me he's injury prone.2034, Barca never learn.
I was rooting for you this whole time but you can fuck right off now
Hold me.
Quite the opposite. He's a machine - less than 8 weeks out over about 7 seasons;
Stats wise...
Did you not sell him?
I'm at Dynamo Dresden (2.Liga)... my record selling fee is about $1.2m
He's still negotiating with Barca by the looks of it.
Cristiano Ronaldo’s regen. Although 12 for freekicks is a little high.
I'm a twit
It came down to the wire for my first season with Slough Town in League One. Despite a number of injuries and a worrying February where we didn't win, we still found ourselves in a good position to secure a playoff position and a possible third promotion in a row.
The fixture list was quite favourable, with 3 matches against teams fighting relegation, before a huge away trip to Charlton and a home game against Northampton to finish off the season. We slipped up a little in a draw to bottom of the table Aldershot, but 8 points from 4 was solid. TQ Addy came off the bench to rifle in an absolute screamer to win us the game late against Oxford, and we were really good in the away draw at Charlton, and possibly should have won it late on.
All this meant we were 4th going into the final round of fixtures, level on points with Nottingham Forest and Notts County, and two points ahead of Charlton in 7th. Charlton had a home game against already relegated Port Vale, Notts County were away to 20th-placed Oxford, and Nottingham Forest were at home to Swindon, a tough match.
We were also at home, playing Northampton Town. We were unbeaten in 12 going into this game, and Northampton had lost their last 5 games after at one point looking like a playoff challenger too. Surely we could get the win that would guarantee a playoff appearance?
Ouch. This one hurt. We hit the woodwork three times and had a couple of clear cut chances, but Northampton's subs did the damage and with us piling forward late on, they rubbed salt in the wounds. But there was still hope. If Charlton had failed to win, or one of Forest or Notts County lost, we'd still sneak into the top 6.
What a bottlejob that was. Charlton won 4-3, Notts County drew 3-3 and Nottingham Forest held on at home to Swindon for a dour 0-0. All that hard work down the drain, but a 7th-place finish is still an incredible achievement for a club the size of Slough Town after back-to-back promotions. It at least gives us a really good base to work from next season, but I can't deny I was gutted after that last game.
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A quick look at the squad that got us through this 8th season with Slough Town. The midfield 3 were strong all year and provided a lot of goals for us. Luke Dreher grabbing 10 goals as a ball winning midfielder was a really nice bonus, and Sion Spence again easily hit double figures for assists, playing as the attacking CM of the 3.
Dennis Ball once again stepped up to the level and was fantastic on the left wing, and the forwards were all fairly good in bursts, if a little inconsistent. David Williams was fantastic coming off the bench, grabbing a lot of important goals, but was never as influential when starting games. I'm not sure whether I'll look to get the loanees back yet. Ian Harding has his contract running out at Cardiff so I might look to secure him permanently if he doesn't demand insane wages like a lot of the players I aim for.
Budgets for next season are fairly conservative, although that's the first time I've had a transfer budget over £125k. I'll probably put it towards upgrades or scouting rather than shelling out fees for players. I'm currently spending £23k p/w so we've got a lot of leeway regarding wages which will be helpful when chasing players with their contracts running out.
This was nice to see - I requested an increase in our youth level, mainly as I finally want our Under 18s entering a league to help with development, and the board agreed to go for a big youth facilities upgrade so this can happen. Hopefully we can start churning through a few youngsters, either so we can sell for some profit, or use in the first team.
In general, this summer will be a lot of work as we have a ton of contracts expiring and I'm not sure who to retain. It all depends on the quality of player we can attract to the club as we've still got a lot of squad players from the National League days who are unfortunately not first team level anymore.
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