Gonna play a journey from lowest division in England to Champions League. Results will be posted here after each five or so games. The team chosen was Concord, from Vanarama South. I chose that one because of the poor facilities, low odds in the league and cool colors (vanity reasons). Tactics used will be Blue and Light Blue (https://fm-arena.com/tactic/1889-zaz-blue-dm/).
For this season, I expect to be promoted in the first year, since the lower leagues are usually very easy. Media prediction was 17th. I hired three players for the first season: Zak Brown, Jordan Aina and Alfie Matthews. All deadwood was loaned out or sold to improve finances, leaving only eleven players in the squad (usually it's fine to use gray players in this kind of league).
After the first five matches, here are the stats, including finances, facilities, squad and player in best recent form. Got two ties after matches with little time to rest, but things should get back to victories now.
As always, one of my goals is to make sure my finances are positive before hiring anyone. I also plan to improve my facilities and becoming professional in the next couple of years. Let me know what you think!
Let me know if there is extra info you would want me to show. Also, there won't be many big scores since I always change to Light Blue when winning by two goals (only 11 players in squad).
Last matches were a breeze. Four victories and one tie in the league, three victories against weak teams in the cup. Because of rewards, financial balance is finally positive. Important to see my defender scoring four times in two matches, from corners. In one of those matches, the two goals happened in less than one minute, just like a replay. That makes six goals from corners in ten matches (and another goal in the cup). My corner routine is set to near post. No wonder he is again the best player from last five matches.
By the way, I didn't say it earlier, but it's only possible to run a squad of eleven players because my team is semi-professional, so training is very light. With that, they get less injuries and recover way faster (but barely improve). My training schedule is shown below.
I would also like to talk about my squad view. It's basically divided in the following parts: - Selection info, including condition, sharpness, fatigue and injury risk, as well as games missed in a row (everyone is tired because I took the shot right after a match). - Morale, form, last match rating and training rating, to remind me to praise those with ratings over 8.0 in any of those ratings to increase morale. - Role training and additional focus, because I always forget to set those things when I hire new players. - Other important info like goals, assists, important attributes and salary.
I would advise anyone to have at least fatigue and games missed in a row visible at team selection, to help rotating the team better.
After 15 matches, Concord starts getting ahead of the competition. After five more victories in a row, we are now 7 points ahead of second place. As expected, any good tactic should have an easy time on the lower leagues, even with a squad of only eleven players.
About the short squad, I had a SS injuried for 3 matches and one of my defenders playing barely 20 minutes in one match for the same reason. I'm trying to rotate with some gray players, but it's always a risk since they are three MR, one ML one GK. Who needs DC or AM?
Highlights of the season are Lamar Reynolds, with 18 goals in 19 matches (counting cups), and Danny Green (best of recent matches), with 15 assists.
Some people started showing interested in Lamar Reynolds, with journalists asking if I was fine about losing him. With finances improving, I might hire a couple of subs by december or january, when players are running out of contract.
Also, I got my first defeat, being completely dominated at home. That is nice to happen so players stop going to the pitch in high heels. I then complimented their good form and training, to recover some morale and help them bounce back without entering a bad spell.
ZaZ said: Last matches were a breeze. Four victories and one tie in the league, three victories against weak teams in the cup. Because of rewards, financial balance is finally positive. Important to see my defender scoring four times in two matches, from corners. In one of those matches, the two goals happened in less than one minute, just like a replay. That makes six goals from corners in ten matches (and another goal in the cup). My corner routine is set to near post. No wonder he is again the best player from last five matches.
By the way, I didn't say it earlier, but it's only possible to run a squad of eleven players because my team is semi-professional, so training is very light. With that, they get less injuries and recover way faster (but barely improve). My training schedule is shown below.
I would also like to talk about my squad view. It's basically divided in the following parts: - Selection info, including condition, sharpness, fatigue and injury risk, as well as games missed in a row (everyone is tired because I took the shot right after a match). - Morale, form, last match rating and training rating, to remind me to praise those with ratings over 8.0 in any of those ratings to increase morale. - Role training and additional focus, because I always forget to set those things when I hire new players. - Other important info like goals, assists, important attributes and salary.
I would advise anyone to have at least fatigue and games missed in a row visible at team selection, to help rotating the team better.
Let me know your thoughts! Expand
Can you upload the squad view for us so we don't have to recreate it - Thanks
Mark said: Can you upload the squad view for us so we don't have to recreate it - Thanks Expand
Sure, it's attached to the message. I removed additional focus and added playing time happiness and contract expiry date. I also moved games missed closer to playing time happiness, so all selection info is nearby. I kept the position/role/duty training since it makes easier to sort players and compare players from same position. (Sorry for changing it two or three times!)
Anyway, 20 matches in the league. Got kicked out from FA Cup against team from League Two (two divisions above mine), but league title is on the way. Had to use some gray players during a few matches because of suspensions, but things are going well. During one match, I got my DR sent off and I removed SS to make up for it (actually I moved SS to DR since he was better than the gray player, and neither could play DR anyway). Again, Danny Green was the best in my team. The guy is a beast for assists.
Finances are way better now, but my main goal is to get over one million to become professional during National League (next division). That means I need to progress a bit further in FA Cup, which also means I need a better squad.
Did a small change to the squad view and updated the post. Sorry for the change, I just tried to make it look better since other people will be using it.
P.S.: Anyone using in-game editor can change ability and potential columns to real CA and PA, if they like to have that info visible.
Now at 30 matches in the league. League is almost won and I'm progressing well on FA Trophy. I usually win that lower cup in first season (P.S.: I talked to early, lost on quarter finals against a team from same league as me). Got two longer injuries (longest lasting three months), so I recalled two players from loan. I don't plan to renew contract with any of my players, as it's often better to just hire a new team after season is over. Since all players are pretty bad, you get interest of better players (even free agents) after your team increases reputation.
As a funny fact, I got a bug where half of my team played in black uniform, so it seemed as if three teams were in the field. Picture attached.
ZaZ said: Now at 30 matches in the league. League is almost won and I'm progressing well on FA Trophy (I usually win that lower cup in first season). Got two longer injuries (longest lasting three months), so I recalled two players from loan. I don't plan to renew contract with any of my players, as it's often better to just hire a new team after season is over. Since all players are pretty bad, you get interest of better players (even free agents) after your team increases reputation.
As a funny fact, I got a bug where half of my team played in black uniform, so it seemed as if three teams were in the field. Picture attached.
Expand
I had one player like that in one of my games. I am pretty sure it was a reserve when he came on.
We are the champions, bitches! Kinda expected since lowest division is so easy. With a squad of just eleven players (by the end I recalled two extra from loans due to injuries), a team predicted 17th can easily dominate and be champion, as long as your tactic is at least above average. Next season will be more of a challenge, since the gap between other teams and mine increase a bit, with Concord being the worst in league.
Also, I kinda hate the end of championships, when my team starts playing bad because of anxiety to the title and I feel like they will let it slip. That final run got me a bit nervous, even though I had a good advantage.
Now, I'll run a couple more of experiments on my own to decide if I will keep using Blue 3.0 or if I will move to Blue 3.0 RPM (aka Blue DM).
Next step is to dive into the market to do at least 30 trials a week to reveal player attributes, repeat that every week until I select 22 players for my squad next year. Only player that will continue is Jordan Aina (his contract goes to 2023), but I can keep someone else if I don't find better replacement.
ZaZ said: We are the champions, bitches! Kinda expected since lowest division is so easy. With a squad of just eleven players (by the end I recalled two extra from loans due to injuries), a team predicted 17th can easily dominate and be champion, as long as your tactic is at least above average. Next season will be more of a challenge, since the gap between other teams and mine increase a bit, with Concord being the worst in league.
Also, I kinda hate the end of championships, when my team starts playing bad because of anxiety to the title and I feel like they will let it slip. That final run got me a bit nervous, even though I had a good advantage.
Now, I'll run a couple more of experiments on my own to decide if I will keep using Blue 3.0 or if I will move to Blue 3.0 RPM (aka Blue DM).
Next step is to dive into the market to do at least 30 trials a week to reveal player attributes, repeat that every week until I select 22 players for my squad next year. Only player that will continue is Jordan Aina (his contract goes to 2023), but I can keep someone else if I don't find better replacement. Expand
Congratulations! I look forward to continued success. I'm following you.
If I ask for something, I would be very happy if you could do it when you are available. Can you take a trip to the champions league with the worst team from the lowest Turkish leagues?
zagor said: Congratulations! I look forward to continued success. I'm following you.
If I ask for something, I would be very happy if you could do it when you are available. Can you take a trip to the champions league with the worst team from the lowest Turkish leagues? Expand
I will see about that later, since it will take at least seven to nine seasons before I can challenge UCL with Concord. Not sure how much energy I will have to do it all over again.
ZaZ said: I will see about that later, since it will take at least seven to nine seasons before I can challenge UCL with Concord. Not sure how much energy I will have to do it all over again. Expand
Second season, now promoted to Vanarama National League. As expected, media doesn't have high expectations of my team, predicted last by a large margin. Facilities are still the same as last year (didn't even update the screenshot) and finances are in the same level, with nearly the same wage spending as last year (214k per year, sorry if you use salary per week or month). Squad was fully renewed with free players, except by one player that had longer contract last year (DL - Jordan Aina).
After ten matches, things are going pretty decently. I expect to be promoted as champion, but I am still two points off the leader. Note that my team is very young, with only one player as old as 21, and I even got all three young players of the month from my team. The player in best form is also shown down there.
Anyway, I had some problem with injuries, but things should improve after recoveries. I hope to become leader in the next ten matches and progress well in the cups, winning FA Trophy and progressing until later stages of FA Cup to get enough money to become professional.
Now, 20 matches in the season, Concord Rangers are finally in the lead. Unfortunatelly, we lost in our second match from FA Cup, which will be a blow to our financial goal. I expected to reach at least middle to later stages in order to reach one million euros of rewards and become professional, but it won't be possible this year anymore. In my defense, Plymouth are leading the League One, which is two divisions above mine.
Managing the squad is way easier this year with 15 players. I plan to renew contracts with all players by the middle of season and hire a couple of new faces. I want to end this season with 17 to 22 players.
ta2199 said: Predicted last and leading now. Pretty impressive stuff ! Expand
Above average tactic plus fast players is usually enough to allow any team from lower divisions to challenge for the title. It gets trickier as you go up, specially around Sky Bet League and Premier League.
Now at 30 matches of the second season. Notts County had an insane run (10W1L) and is now leading the championship, but I can overtake them if I win my delayed match. Since I don't want to take my chances, I hired three more players to the squad, including a second goalkeeper. I also renewed contracts with everyone that wanted, but two players refused because they don't think my team is big enough to their ambitions.
A few matches ago, my players started feeling fatigue, so I waited for a good break (9 days after FA Trophy match) and gave all my players one week of vacation. I also got some injuries, including my player that was performing the best (Josh Shaw, profile below).
There is still lots of championship to go (16 matches) and I hope Notts County start losing a couple of matches to give me some peace, else this championship will only be decided in the last matches. I hope I don't need play offs, since anything can happen in that kind of match.
I screwed up somewhere and when I openned my save this morning it was still in match 28 (closed the game without saving). That means I had to replay those lost matches and results have changed. I am not gonna lie, the season might become easier since I won those matches (previously a victory and a draw). There is nothing I can do about that other than apologize and go on with the run. I hope I win the league with a good margin so this doesn't make much of a difference in the end.
ZaZ said: I screwed up somewhere and when I openned my save this morning it was still in match 28 (closed the game without saving). That means I had to replay those lost matches and results have changed. I am not gonna lie, the season might become easier since I won those matches (previously a victory and a draw). There is nothing I can do about that other than apologize and go on with the run. I hope I win the league with a good margin so this doesn't make much of a difference in the end. Expand
This is why I save every couple of days at least in game time so I don't have to replay games. Some perceive it as cheating but I still would rather have the original of what I went through than be replaying games. I still follow with interest you story with this save and have confidence it will take you a long way.
Sometimes these things happens. I have had a few crashes in my time that mostly went the other way. I think the best way to deal with it is, that the stuff you lost was just you dreaming and then you went to the reality and that is what stays.
Mark said: This is why I save every couple of days at least in game time so I don't have to replay games. Some perceive it as cheating but I still would rather have the original of what I went through than be replaying games. I still follow with interest you story with this save and have confidence it will take you a long way.
Sometimes these things happens. I have had a few crashes in my time that mostly went the other way. I think the best way to deal with it is, that the stuff you lost was just you dreaming and then you went to the reality and that is what stays. Expand
I just turned on auto-save after matches, that should avoid the problem from happening again. (P.S.: Auto-save not recommended if you do holiday testing, it takes way longer when game saves after every match.)
Anyway, I think the concept of cheating is rather vague. There are literally hundreds of games where people reload when they don't get the desired results, so I don't think it's a big deal when people do it here. It will be like playing in easy mode, that's for sure, but some people enjoy other aspects of the game other than challenge. Using FM Scout or In Game Editor can also be considered cheating by some people, but I think it just changes the way the game is experienced, putting more focus on planning and the future instead of the current season. Whatever people like to play and have fun is fine by me.
Season almost over after 40 matches done. I was shamefully kicked out of FA Trophy by a team from my league (I expected to win that cup), then got three ties, which made me think I could also lose the league. Luckily I managed to keep morale high and we came back to victories, and now we have a 7 points lead over second place.
Below are the competitions, schedule, squad and player in best form, as usual, as well as dynamics and club vision. I also added the thrilling match against Notts County, possibly the hardest and most important victory of the season, and the youth intake, which seems to be promising (usually only crap since my level is too low).
I will try to get three more players to have a squad of two teams, or 22 players.
End of season, champion and about to become professional. After a successful season, my boss offered to become professional next season, which I have obviously accepted. He also asked me to play possession football and play for set pieces, but I won't change my tactics for that.
The end of the season was harder than I thought, with two series of matches without victories that got me on the edge. I even lost by 4-0, which shows how anxious my players were. good thing we won in the end, with 4 points to spare (5 if we consider goal difference advantage).
Anyway, I also finished building my 22 man squad. My DM doesn't want to renew contract, but I got a boy from youth intake that is better than a gray player, so I decided to keep him to see if he develops to some acceptable standard. I always like to have at least one player from youth teams, but they need to have some minimum speed to get a spot in my squad.
By the start of next season, I'll see if I can renew 5 or 6 players from my team with better players, else this will be my squad for League Two (next division).
By the way, from these two seasons with Concord Rangers I figured some tips to improve the tactic. Basically, I noticed there are too many people by the edge of opponent's area, by the middle. Everyone goes up, including RPM, IWBs and even BPDs. What I'm trying now is to bring SS back to CM-At so he can help a bit more in defense, while trying to tweak wingers so they stretch more the field. I'm still experimenting around, but results seem promising.
ZaZ said: By the way, from these two seasons with Concord Rangers I figured some tips to improve the tactic. Basically, I noticed there are too many people by the edge of opponent's area, by the middle. Everyone goes up, including RPM, IWBs and even BPDs. \ Expand
Have you thought that it might be the reason why the tactic works so good?
And if you change it then the tactic might lose its edge.
Lapidus said: Have you thought that it might be the reason why the tactic works so good?
And if you change it then the tactic might lose its edge. Expand
I did, but if it gets worse, I just keep the current one. I'm satisfied with the movement of everyone from the back, just the front that I feel can be improved somehow.
@ZaZ Have you ever tried the formation of 2 shadow forwards and 1 target man in low reputation and bad teams? The target man's strength and physique can be overused. It just occurred to me as an idea and I wanted to get your opinion.
Like that - I'm really curious about this . I'll test it
Gonna play a journey from lowest division in England to Champions League. Results will be posted here after each five or so games. The team chosen was Concord, from Vanarama South. I chose that one because of the poor facilities, low odds in the league and cool colors (vanity reasons). Tactics used will be Blue and Light Blue (https://fm-arena.com/tactic/1889-zaz-blue-dm/).
For this season, I expect to be promoted in the first year, since the lower leagues are usually very easy. Media prediction was 17th. I hired three players for the first season: Zak Brown, Jordan Aina and Alfie Matthews. All deadwood was loaned out or sold to improve finances, leaving only eleven players in the squad (usually it's fine to use gray players in this kind of league).
After the first five matches, here are the stats, including finances, facilities, squad and player in best recent form. Got two ties after matches with little time to rest, but things should get back to victories now.
As always, one of my goals is to make sure my finances are positive before hiring anyone. I also plan to improve my facilities and becoming professional in the next couple of years. Let me know what you think!
I'll follow this with a great interest!
Thanks.
Poacher said: I'll follow this with a great interest!
Thanks.
Let me know if there is extra info you would want me to show. Also, there won't be many big scores since I always change to Light Blue when winning by two goals (only 11 players in squad).
Last matches were a breeze. Four victories and one tie in the league, three victories against weak teams in the cup. Because of rewards, financial balance is finally positive. Important to see my defender scoring four times in two matches, from corners. In one of those matches, the two goals happened in less than one minute, just like a replay. That makes six goals from corners in ten matches (and another goal in the cup). My corner routine is set to near post. No wonder he is again the best player from last five matches.
By the way, I didn't say it earlier, but it's only possible to run a squad of eleven players because my team is semi-professional, so training is very light. With that, they get less injuries and recover way faster (but barely improve). My training schedule is shown below.
I would also like to talk about my squad view. It's basically divided in the following parts:
- Selection info, including condition, sharpness, fatigue and injury risk, as well as games missed in a row (everyone is tired because I took the shot right after a match).
- Morale, form, last match rating and training rating, to remind me to praise those with ratings over 8.0 in any of those ratings to increase morale.
- Role training and additional focus, because I always forget to set those things when I hire new players.
- Other important info like goals, assists, important attributes and salary.
I would advise anyone to have at least fatigue and games missed in a row visible at team selection, to help rotating the team better.
Let me know your thoughts!
After 15 matches, Concord starts getting ahead of the competition. After five more victories in a row, we are now 7 points ahead of second place. As expected, any good tactic should have an easy time on the lower leagues, even with a squad of only eleven players.
About the short squad, I had a SS injuried for 3 matches and one of my defenders playing barely 20 minutes in one match for the same reason. I'm trying to rotate with some gray players, but it's always a risk since they are three MR, one ML one GK. Who needs DC or AM?
Highlights of the season are Lamar Reynolds, with 18 goals in 19 matches (counting cups), and Danny Green (best of recent matches), with 15 assists.
Some people started showing interested in Lamar Reynolds, with journalists asking if I was fine about losing him. With finances improving, I might hire a couple of subs by december or january, when players are running out of contract.
Also, I got my first defeat, being completely dominated at home. That is nice to happen so players stop going to the pitch in high heels. I then complimented their good form and training, to recover some morale and help them bounce back without entering a bad spell.
ZaZ said: Last matches were a breeze. Four victories and one tie in the league, three victories against weak teams in the cup. Because of rewards, financial balance is finally positive. Important to see my defender scoring four times in two matches, from corners. In one of those matches, the two goals happened in less than one minute, just like a replay. That makes six goals from corners in ten matches (and another goal in the cup). My corner routine is set to near post. No wonder he is again the best player from last five matches.
By the way, I didn't say it earlier, but it's only possible to run a squad of eleven players because my team is semi-professional, so training is very light. With that, they get less injuries and recover way faster (but barely improve). My training schedule is shown below.
I would also like to talk about my squad view. It's basically divided in the following parts:
- Selection info, including condition, sharpness, fatigue and injury risk, as well as games missed in a row (everyone is tired because I took the shot right after a match).
- Morale, form, last match rating and training rating, to remind me to praise those with ratings over 8.0 in any of those ratings to increase morale.
- Role training and additional focus, because I always forget to set those things when I hire new players.
- Other important info like goals, assists, important attributes and salary.
I would advise anyone to have at least fatigue and games missed in a row visible at team selection, to help rotating the team better.
Let me know your thoughts!
Can you upload the squad view for us so we don't have to recreate it - Thanks
Mark said: Can you upload the squad view for us so we don't have to recreate it - Thanks
Sure, it's attached to the message. I removed additional focus and added playing time happiness and contract expiry date. I also moved games missed closer to playing time happiness, so all selection info is nearby. I kept the position/role/duty training since it makes easier to sort players and compare players from same position. (Sorry for changing it two or three times!)
Anyway, 20 matches in the league. Got kicked out from FA Cup against team from League Two (two divisions above mine), but league title is on the way. Had to use some gray players during a few matches because of suspensions, but things are going well. During one match, I got my DR sent off and I removed SS to make up for it (actually I moved SS to DR since he was better than the gray player, and neither could play DR anyway). Again, Danny Green was the best in my team. The guy is a beast for assists.
Finances are way better now, but my main goal is to get over one million to become professional during National League (next division). That means I need to progress a bit further in FA Cup, which also means I need a better squad.
Did a small change to the squad view and updated the post. Sorry for the change, I just tried to make it look better since other people will be using it.
P.S.: Anyone using in-game editor can change ability and potential columns to real CA and PA, if they like to have that info visible.
Now at 30 matches in the league. League is almost won and I'm progressing well on FA Trophy. I usually win that lower cup in first season (P.S.: I talked to early, lost on quarter finals against a team from same league as me). Got two longer injuries (longest lasting three months), so I recalled two players from loan. I don't plan to renew contract with any of my players, as it's often better to just hire a new team after season is over. Since all players are pretty bad, you get interest of better players (even free agents) after your team increases reputation.
As a funny fact, I got a bug where half of my team played in black uniform, so it seemed as if three teams were in the field. Picture attached.
ZaZ said: Now at 30 matches in the league. League is almost won and I'm progressing well on FA Trophy (I usually win that lower cup in first season). Got two longer injuries (longest lasting three months), so I recalled two players from loan. I don't plan to renew contract with any of my players, as it's often better to just hire a new team after season is over. Since all players are pretty bad, you get interest of better players (even free agents) after your team increases reputation.
As a funny fact, I got a bug where half of my team played in black uniform, so it seemed as if three teams were in the field. Picture attached.
I had one player like that in one of my games. I am pretty sure it was a reserve when he came on.
Mark said: I had one plaer like that in one of my games. I am pretty sure it was a reserve when he came on.
Those were all starters, though. It was 4 or 5 players.
We are the champions, bitches! Kinda expected since lowest division is so easy. With a squad of just eleven players (by the end I recalled two extra from loans due to injuries), a team predicted 17th can easily dominate and be champion, as long as your tactic is at least above average. Next season will be more of a challenge, since the gap between other teams and mine increase a bit, with Concord being the worst in league.
Also, I kinda hate the end of championships, when my team starts playing bad because of anxiety to the title and I feel like they will let it slip. That final run got me a bit nervous, even though I had a good advantage.
Now, I'll run a couple more of experiments on my own to decide if I will keep using Blue 3.0 or if I will move to Blue 3.0 RPM (aka Blue DM).
Next step is to dive into the market to do at least 30 trials a week to reveal player attributes, repeat that every week until I select 22 players for my squad next year. Only player that will continue is Jordan Aina (his contract goes to 2023), but I can keep someone else if I don't find better replacement.
ZaZ said: We are the champions, bitches! Kinda expected since lowest division is so easy. With a squad of just eleven players (by the end I recalled two extra from loans due to injuries), a team predicted 17th can easily dominate and be champion, as long as your tactic is at least above average. Next season will be more of a challenge, since the gap between other teams and mine increase a bit, with Concord being the worst in league.
Also, I kinda hate the end of championships, when my team starts playing bad because of anxiety to the title and I feel like they will let it slip. That final run got me a bit nervous, even though I had a good advantage.
Now, I'll run a couple more of experiments on my own to decide if I will keep using Blue 3.0 or if I will move to Blue 3.0 RPM (aka Blue DM).
Next step is to dive into the market to do at least 30 trials a week to reveal player attributes, repeat that every week until I select 22 players for my squad next year. Only player that will continue is Jordan Aina (his contract goes to 2023), but I can keep someone else if I don't find better replacement.
Congratulations! I look forward to continued success. I'm following you.
If I ask for something, I would be very happy if you could do it when you are available.
Can you take a trip to the champions league with the worst team from the lowest Turkish leagues?
zagor said: Congratulations! I look forward to continued success. I'm following you.
If I ask for something, I would be very happy if you could do it when you are available.
Can you take a trip to the champions league with the worst team from the lowest Turkish leagues?
I will see about that later, since it will take at least seven to nine seasons before I can challenge UCL with Concord. Not sure how much energy I will have to do it all over again.
ZaZ said: I will see about that later, since it will take at least seven to nine seasons before I can challenge UCL with Concord. Not sure how much energy I will have to do it all over again.
Either way, thank you for your interest!
Second season, now promoted to Vanarama National League. As expected, media doesn't have high expectations of my team, predicted last by a large margin. Facilities are still the same as last year (didn't even update the screenshot) and finances are in the same level, with nearly the same wage spending as last year (214k per year, sorry if you use salary per week or month). Squad was fully renewed with free players, except by one player that had longer contract last year (DL - Jordan Aina).
After ten matches, things are going pretty decently. I expect to be promoted as champion, but I am still two points off the leader. Note that my team is very young, with only one player as old as 21, and I even got all three young players of the month from my team. The player in best form is also shown down there.
Anyway, I had some problem with injuries, but things should improve after recoveries. I hope to become leader in the next ten matches and progress well in the cups, winning FA Trophy and progressing until later stages of FA Cup to get enough money to become professional.
Concord on the way! looks curios for upcoming matches
Now, 20 matches in the season, Concord Rangers are finally in the lead. Unfortunatelly, we lost in our second match from FA Cup, which will be a blow to our financial goal. I expected to reach at least middle to later stages in order to reach one million euros of rewards and become professional, but it won't be possible this year anymore. In my defense, Plymouth are leading the League One, which is two divisions above mine.
Managing the squad is way easier this year with 15 players. I plan to renew contracts with all players by the middle of season and hire a couple of new faces. I want to end this season with 17 to 22 players.
Predicted last and leading now. Pretty impressive stuff !
ta2199 said: Predicted last and leading now. Pretty impressive stuff !
Above average tactic plus fast players is usually enough to allow any team from lower divisions to challenge for the title. It gets trickier as you go up, specially around Sky Bet League and Premier League.
Now at 30 matches of the second season. Notts County had an insane run (10W1L) and is now leading the championship, but I can overtake them if I win my delayed match. Since I don't want to take my chances, I hired three more players to the squad, including a second goalkeeper. I also renewed contracts with everyone that wanted, but two players refused because they don't think my team is big enough to their ambitions.
A few matches ago, my players started feeling fatigue, so I waited for a good break (9 days after FA Trophy match) and gave all my players one week of vacation. I also got some injuries, including my player that was performing the best (Josh Shaw, profile below).
There is still lots of championship to go (16 matches) and I hope Notts County start losing a couple of matches to give me some peace, else this championship will only be decided in the last matches. I hope I don't need play offs, since anything can happen in that kind of match.
I screwed up somewhere and when I openned my save this morning it was still in match 28 (closed the game without saving). That means I had to replay those lost matches and results have changed. I am not gonna lie, the season might become easier since I won those matches (previously a victory and a draw). There is nothing I can do about that other than apologize and go on with the run. I hope I win the league with a good margin so this doesn't make much of a difference in the end.
ZaZ said: I screwed up somewhere and when I openned my save this morning it was still in match 28 (closed the game without saving). That means I had to replay those lost matches and results have changed. I am not gonna lie, the season might become easier since I won those matches (previously a victory and a draw). There is nothing I can do about that other than apologize and go on with the run. I hope I win the league with a good margin so this doesn't make much of a difference in the end.
This is why I save every couple of days at least in game time so I don't have to replay games. Some perceive it as cheating but I still would rather have the original of what I went through than be replaying games. I still follow with interest you story with this save and have confidence it will take you a long way.
Sometimes these things happens. I have had a few crashes in my time that mostly went the other way. I think the best way to deal with it is, that the stuff you lost was just you dreaming and then you went to the reality and that is what stays.
Mark said: This is why I save every couple of days at least in game time so I don't have to replay games. Some perceive it as cheating but I still would rather have the original of what I went through than be replaying games. I still follow with interest you story with this save and have confidence it will take you a long way.
Sometimes these things happens. I have had a few crashes in my time that mostly went the other way. I think the best way to deal with it is, that the stuff you lost was just you dreaming and then you went to the reality and that is what stays.
I just turned on auto-save after matches, that should avoid the problem from happening again. (P.S.: Auto-save not recommended if you do holiday testing, it takes way longer when game saves after every match.)
Anyway, I think the concept of cheating is rather vague. There are literally hundreds of games where people reload when they don't get the desired results, so I don't think it's a big deal when people do it here. It will be like playing in easy mode, that's for sure, but some people enjoy other aspects of the game other than challenge. Using FM Scout or In Game Editor can also be considered cheating by some people, but I think it just changes the way the game is experienced, putting more focus on planning and the future instead of the current season. Whatever people like to play and have fun is fine by me.
Season almost over after 40 matches done. I was shamefully kicked out of FA Trophy by a team from my league (I expected to win that cup), then got three ties, which made me think I could also lose the league. Luckily I managed to keep morale high and we came back to victories, and now we have a 7 points lead over second place.
Below are the competitions, schedule, squad and player in best form, as usual, as well as dynamics and club vision. I also added the thrilling match against Notts County, possibly the hardest and most important victory of the season, and the youth intake, which seems to be promising (usually only crap since my level is too low).
I will try to get three more players to have a squad of two teams, or 22 players.
End of season, champion and about to become professional. After a successful season, my boss offered to become professional next season, which I have obviously accepted. He also asked me to play possession football and play for set pieces, but I won't change my tactics for that.
The end of the season was harder than I thought, with two series of matches without victories that got me on the edge. I even lost by 4-0, which shows how anxious my players were. good thing we won in the end, with 4 points to spare (5 if we consider goal difference advantage).
Anyway, I also finished building my 22 man squad. My DM doesn't want to renew contract, but I got a boy from youth intake that is better than a gray player, so I decided to keep him to see if he develops to some acceptable standard. I always like to have at least one player from youth teams, but they need to have some minimum speed to get a spot in my squad.
By the start of next season, I'll see if I can renew 5 or 6 players from my team with better players, else this will be my squad for League Two (next division).
That's it for season two!
By the way, from these two seasons with Concord Rangers I figured some tips to improve the tactic. Basically, I noticed there are too many people by the edge of opponent's area, by the middle. Everyone goes up, including RPM, IWBs and even BPDs. What I'm trying now is to bring SS back to CM-At so he can help a bit more in defense, while trying to tweak wingers so they stretch more the field. I'm still experimenting around, but results seem promising.
ZaZ said: By the way, from these two seasons with Concord Rangers I figured some tips to improve the tactic. Basically, I noticed there are too many people by the edge of opponent's area, by the middle. Everyone goes up, including RPM, IWBs and even BPDs. \
Have you thought that it might be the reason why the tactic works so good?
And if you change it then the tactic might lose its edge.
Lapidus said: Have you thought that it might be the reason why the tactic works so good?
And if you change it then the tactic might lose its edge.
I did, but if it gets worse, I just keep the current one. I'm satisfied with the movement of everyone from the back, just the front that I feel can be improved somehow.
@ZaZ Have you ever tried the formation of 2 shadow forwards and 1 target man in low reputation and bad teams? The target man's strength and physique can be overused. It just occurred to me as an idea and I wanted to get your opinion.
Like that - I'm really curious about this . I'll test it