Sorry for the length of time between posts but I went away on holiday for a week then it took a couple of days to finish my third season.
Goals for this season
Initially I targeted promotion but after seeing how weak my squad was compared to Falkirk, Partick Thistle and Clyde who were all now in my league, I decided to use accept this being a transition season and aim for midtable.
Again I need a big money tie, I haven't posted about my finances but I have been hovering around Zero GBP for two seasons, mainly because I only spend around 3000 a week in wages, which with regens and new contracts doesn't vary much. Be nice to get a tie that will give me a couple hundred grand in the bank, to start allowing the board to agree to my requests for youth upgrades.
Pre-season
I decide that I need to start upgrading my coaching staff and my own stats, my highest stat after two seasons is a 5 for defense and tactical coaching. I had around 20k in the bank from last seasons title win and splash it all on coaching courses for me and three of my staff. I sign up a few players on longer contracts and organise some friendlies to bring in some more cash.
After the friendlies I decide my new regen goal keeper is mince, and his PR drops from 3.5 stars to 2.5. His reflexes and agility are 5 so in the long run he wont be worth the pain of losing tonnes of goals. He will be bench fodder for the season. Hoping for good things from my new striker, at least if he can get 15 goals all season, im pretty sure my midfield and wingers will provide enough goals.
My starting 11 for the league season will be;
GK - Stuart McKenzie
RB - Grant Campbell (by mid Oct ive replaced him with my new regen RB as he isnt any worse)
CB - Scott Ross
CB - Gary Cummings (Regen)
LB - Harry Milne
CM - Jordan Brown (prefer him to strachan as he is too slow now for this level and they are similar stats otherwise)
CM - Blair Yule
CM - Greg Pressley (Regen)
RW - Daniel Park
LW - Mitch Megginson
CF - Andy Lindsay (Regen)
First Half of Season
Lose 2 and win 2 in the league cup then win my first league game, but it only get worse after that. I lose and draw myself to 5 points in 6 games and end up sitting second bottom. I start think my gutter squad is gonna find life hard at this level. I organise a team meeting and boost moral which concides with 3 games in september against the other 3 teams in the bottom four. I win 2 and draw 1 which leads me into a run through October and November where I win 6, draw 3 and lose 1 game in the cup. This staggering change in what could have been a slow death slide to the bottom of the table for eternity propels me up to second by the end of November. My top scorer last season and season before (Park) scored zero goals by end of of september and I was beginning to think he had reached his level but he picked up form along with the ever reliable megginson and score 15 goals between them by November end. Lindsay scored the odd goal but he was hit or miss, scoring only 6 goals in first half of season. I will stick with him because my other players (especially Brown (10 goals)) are more than making up for him being inconsistent.
Talking about Brown, Ive really found with this formation if you want a goal scoring CM, play one as a mezzela, It allows him to drift between the gaps in midfield and support the wingers providing plenty assists and goals. Defense is a massive worry. Im in 2nd place at the moment but ive conceded almost as many goals as ive scored. I have a +2 GD and just to demonstrate where my weaknesses and strengths lie, the second game against Falkirk which I expected to get gubbed in, ended in a 6-8 win for me. This game was mental and I was losing 6-5 at half time and has been my highest scoring game in my FM playing history. Megginson ended up with 1 goal and 4 assists.
https://preview.redd.it/mfoib6uu0jy31.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=9f33b9547f974bbc78eb3a8e1007a3163af72c87
Completed my training course by end of Oct and got a boost of 1 to most of my stats. Board wouldnt fund another course straight away so I will wait until season end when hopefully some prize money will allow them to fork out 1,200 for the national B licence. Managed to stay within touch of the top spot by the end of December, at one point being within 6 points. Im actually quite astounded how well im doing due to how poor my squad is in comparison to other teams in the league.
COMPARISON STATS
Overall Stats
Defense - Very prone to leaks
Better than average attackers
State of play end of December
Again I couldnt wait until March rolled around and I pretty much chugged along but slowly slipped further behind top spot. I have been drawing too many games, I have no problem scoring but as per last year my defense is horrendous. Hoping to get a new CB in March. I got knocked out of the SC by Kilmarnock after beating Livingston on a replay in the previous round. It wasnt even a close game but it at least cleared my debt again. By March i had settled into 4th spot, too far from 3rd place (7-8) points and too far from 5th, I was pretty much guaranteed a playoff place with 8 games to go, no mean feat from this team.
Youth Intake
This was the intake my team needed. 3 players with 4-5 star potentials and 2-3 more with 3.5-4.5. I couldnt have asked for a better intake than this, considering how poor my facilities and investment are.
Could be hit or miss this guy
Poor tech stats but he is 4-5 star potential and fairly professional. I shoe horn him into the side and switch Megginson to the Right (even though its an awkward position. Park will be a decent player off the bench but he is 28 now and won't make the step up to a higher level now.
Professional attitude may make up for lack of potential
Decent stats and a good pressure striker. He is also professional attitude (which changes to resolute after a month ????? whatever I'll take it) I play a few games with him on the bench but then decide to shoe horn him also into the starting line up, partnering Lindsay upfront. I switch Lindsay to his more preferred role of poacher and have my new striker play as a Pressure Forward, Good for my high press game. It does mean I have one less player in midfield. Pressley is really coming on at CM so I sacrifice Brown (despite being top scorer) to the sub bench. Hard decision but again this save is all about developing the next generation to take the team on to the next level and brown is also 28/29 by this point. will be a good backup.
https://preview.redd.it/g1tul7ds1jy31.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=012ec94693d9b985133d3e293024832044369385
The regen ive been waiting for, a new CB with decent technical stats and good attitude. Tackling and Marking 11, and heading 9 with 4-5 star potential. He will hopefully develop into a Championship level player. I really hoped one of the regen would be a decent goalie cause I think my current GK plus last years regen GK are leaking most of my goals.
Other noteworthy regens, got a decent back up LB as well as another 3 star CB. Dont expect much from them but you never know. Still no money to invest in youth development and again no top team money maker ties in the cups. Kilmarnock game gave my 40-50k but all it did was wipe my debt. I need an Edinburgh club, Aberdeen or Old Firm game to give me 250-400k. These cup games with lower prem teams or the two dundee teams with 5-6000 crowds aint gonna do it. Fingers crossed again, and perhaps if I squeeze through the playoffs (doubt it as I got pumped 3-1 by East Fire (3rd) recently) I can get decent money playing the championship. Not sure my team is ready for that step up though. no one has been sniffing around my regens this year, luckily.
End of Season Run
My last 8 games after my youth intake resulted in a fairly mixed bag but enough to secure 4th spot and a playoff position with two games to go. Very happy to have made it this far as my start to the season made me think it was gonna be a tough one. Hopefully get promoted but if I dont, no big deal as gives me one more year to develop my players.
The playoffs I ended up being drawn against Airdrie who came 9th in the championship, having lost 23/36 games this year, its probably the best draw I could have got. 1st leg start well going 1-0 up through Megginson then three minutes later Smith (new regen striker) gets sent off. Airdrie come back into the game but Megginson then gets hiself sent off aswell. Games finishes 1-1 and I have it all to do in the next leg without a key player.
Second leg begins poorly, going 2 nil down within 15 minutes, I manage to claw one back but get pegged back immediately. Second half I need two goals or its all over, I go all out attack. They score immediately after the break, its all over. I get absolutely pumped 6-2 (7-3) on aggregate and confirms I have no business in the Championship, probably a season too early.
https://preview.redd.it/tewm5v71ajy31.png?width=1920&format=png&auto=webp&s=8b4dbca9fe1b86cd8f3b9d9dd94146e146967f7c
final standings
Summary of Season
Overall a positive season coming fourth and some decent regens coming through. Next year ill be gunning for promotion.
Player of the season - Mitch Megginson
Young player of the season - Andy Lindsay, first full season and scored 11
Top Goalscorer - Jordan Brown - Again a midfielder scoring 15
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