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    Football Manager - I turned Millwall into the most aggressive team in the world - Part XIII

    Football Manager - I turned Millwall into the most aggressive team in the world - Part XIII


    I turned Millwall into the most aggressive team in the world - Part XIII

    Posted: 23 May 2020 01:12 AM PDT

    I turned Millwall into the most aggressive team in the world - Part XIII

    Links to Part I / II / III / IV / V / VI / VII / VIII / IX / X / XI / XII / XIII

    The grand finale.

    No One Likes Us

    With my salaried scouts proving useless (yes, I realise that Player X can solve all our problems and is available for cheap, but he's a nice bloke and thus ineligible to play for us), I take to the internet for suggestions. It pays off – the likes of Mitrovic, Zaza, Embolo, Maupay, and Mandzucic are thrown into the hat. With just over a week remaining, I begin bidding on all of them. Mitrovic, Moise Kean, and Trezeguet are my key targets, but despite having bids accepted they all refuse to join Millwall.

    Someone who does actually talk to us is penalty-taking legend Simone Zaza. Everything looks good, until my medical team point out he's broken his leg and will miss the rest of the season. Even with a broken leg I think he'd be more mobile than anyone else I have leading the line, but the deal falls through.

    https://preview.redd.it/7nsfi1m2yg051.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6ab6f2295a4a8de4191adecdf98e6074a71e09b0

    Time is running out. My hopes now lie with Brighton, who have not one, but two shithouses up top – Florin Andone and Neal Maupay. Despite sitting thirteenth in the Championship neither player kicks up a fuss about leaving, perhaps realising we'll probably be in that division anyway next year. And Brighton demand a lot. £60m for Maupay, £35m for Andone.

    The money is absurd, but we have little choice. Either accept certain relegation, or gamble and try and stay up. Maupay is the better, younger player, but the funds just aren't available. The board even try and block the Andone deal until I convince them he's our only hope, and after a mammoth series of contract negotiations that threaten to destabilise the club financially, we get our man. A striker with pace. A tactical revolution. Even Guardiola, who seems fascinated by our club, is impressed, calling the signing a "smart piece of business".

    https://preview.redd.it/tgub6oq4yg051.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1a7d691a152e05cbe4259ef55ccfb7450d16eb78

    The deal has crippled our accounts. To try and balance them a little I sell Jake Cooper again, this time to Bristol City for £12m. In his two seasons with us we'd made the playoffs. In his time away I nearly got the club relegated from the Championship. But after failing to learn to dive into tackles despite the best attempts of Cattermole and Stam, I've had enough. The philosophy overrides any sentimentality.

    Drifting

    Our first game back sees us end our run of five straight defeats with a deserved goalless draw away to Newcastle. The addition of Andone shows promise – his pace making our attacks look far more threatening. He misses the best chance of the game, but I'm happy with his contribution, especially as he pitched in with four of our 31 fouls.

    https://preview.redd.it/qm0bxhm8yg051.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d5a3cbf3396df8ffd599a72e0622c60300f39815

    Southampton are next up. We put in another good performance, but sink to a harsh 3-0 defeat – two long-range screamers and an indirect free kick the difference in the end.

    I'm glad for a two week break between fixtures. We need to reset things, and the board let us travel to Cyprus for a warm weather training camp. A quick Google tells me APOEL are the most violent fans there, and a friendly is duly arranged. I briefly consider inviting Fenerbahçe for a game on Cypriot soil, but decide a potential international incident is extreme even for Millwall standards.

    David

    Around mid-February I receive the latest squad development report from my backroom staff. Usually I just glance over this to see if any of our youth prospects have learned to wind up opponents, then chuck it in the bin. But this time I read on. Good news, apparently – Allan Campbell, one of the best players at the club, has the potential to become a leading Championship player in the future…

    A leading Championship player.

    First-choice left back Boto is a decent League One player, as are Costa and Barnes. Fellaini is League Two standard. Deeney would star in the Conference. I'm not sure the staff think Holebas should still be playing. I'd known we were crap. But perhaps I'd been generous. Looking through the squad, I realise just how out of our depth we truly are.

    https://preview.redd.it/mpmb7krbyg051.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4608bc8e32a09930504123d81ec69d1231d54ef8

    The Card Factory

    Despite our horrendous form, we somehow haven't yet been cut adrift. But with the teams around us finally picking up points – Watford earning draws against Liverpool and Arsenal – our luck can't continue. The next five games, four of them winnable, will define our season.

    Unfortunately for our survival hopes, the training camp only seems to have rejuvenated the players' desire to hack the opposition to pieces. We do grab a heroic daw to West Brom despite Fisher's red card early in the second half, but can't repeat this feat in an absolute bloodbath away at Stoke, sinking to a 4-1 defeat after Rafferty (in for Fisher)'s dismissal, nine bookings, and two own goals. I'm sure it brought back fond memories of the Pulis heyday for the Stoke fans, but it doesn't do us much good.

    https://preview.redd.it/08yss2ldyg051.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9134322a365230ee37ec22e5ad6d3333a6d9abf2

    Getting players sent off and suspended is problem enough, but the trail of yellow cards we leave in our wake is also catching up to us. Thompson, Travis, and Pearson all reach double digits for bookings and sit out crucial games. Compounding things, Boto chooses this time to pull his hamstring, and Campbell sprains his ankle ligaments, both joining Vardy on the injured list. Not that Vardy and his zero goals is much of a loss, mind.

    Even with the squad down to its bare bones the yellows only increase against Bournemouth and Chelsea – the likes of Nyom, Besic, and Deeney showcasing the depth of violence I've created at the club by contributing to the eleven bookings we get across the fixtures. Deeney also nets his first Millwall goal, though it's not enough as we fall to 3-1 and 2-0 defeats respectively…

    Too Little, Too Late

    We're sinking. And our record signing is yet to score. I wonder if it's a noble effort on his part to save the club money by not triggering his goal bonuses, but in truth it's more a complete lack of decent service. I pore over replays of our games, rewatching our stifling, grim football in its entirety to help understand our issues, and see that whilst we look half-decent at times, the second we approach the opposition's box our play breaks down. Too many players central all getting in each other's way; no one supporting the wing backs.

    We need wingers. Despite not having the personnel, I try it anyway, bunging 37-year-old Vardy out on the right, with Andone on the left. And the duo combine for the opening goal against Huddersfield, the Romanian finally scoring his first goal for the club in his seventh game! If we can hold on, we can give ourselves a chance... but in the 88th minute a deep free kick finds its way into our box, and is smashed home. A cruel draw.

    Against Arsenal Andone puts us ahead again, this despite another Travis red card. We never look close to holding the lead, though, being edged out 2-1 in the end. Our plight looks desperate, but there's a celebratory mood in the camp as we break another prestigious Premier League record.

    https://preview.redd.it/y4u9eglkyg051.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4c9cc272ffa299450861e70ce4140b8fc0e05e30

    Bend it like Grabara

    One of the more radical ways in which I'd tried to increase our foul count was by handing free kick duty over to our goalkeeper, the theory being that he'd be way out of position more and force more cynical fouling. This doesn't really work, as in reality our back line simply stare at the attackers as they shoot at an open goal from 60 yards out. Somehow we're yet to concede from one.

    What I hadn't expected was for us to actually score from a free kick. But, after wasting nearly every set piece opportunity we'd had for months, Grabara places the ball down against Villa, takes a run up, and curls the ball past Foster!

    https://i.redd.it/67kc2w6nyg051.gif

    It's ridiculous enough, but it gets better. He goes on to keep a clean sheet, win man of the match, seal our first win in the league for three-and-a-half months, appear on Bayern Munich's scouting radar, and win the April goal of the month competition. The award seems to go to his head, however, as when I congratulate him he deliriously claims to have scored other great goals in his career.

    https://preview.redd.it/4twsiwgpyg051.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dc2e7a2626074e2ada51ed54b1f3ee60119b76ff

    Relegation. Millwall-Style.

    Our unlikely goalscoring hero has kept us in with a slim hope of survival, and we go to already-relegated Everton in search of two wins on the bounce. Yet again we take the lead, yet again we throw it away. Thompson picks up two yellows inside a minute, and just as the ten men look to have successfully wound down the clock through gegenfouling, Bentaleb rifles one in from 25 yards.

    To rub salt into the wound, 17th-placed Stoke beat Man Utd to go eleven points clear of us with four games left. Just as we'd started to see the side gel, we're doomed unless we win all our remaining games. Including Man United and Man City. In frustration at the injury time equaliser I slate the referee's performance, claiming the sending off was unjust. The FA think otherwise, increase Thompson's ban to six (!) games, and hit me with a touchline ban.

    https://preview.redd.it/ip5uh8hsyg051.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e5b610c2847175daac82c5fafc61ffc0f68a8805

    After all this, after five long years, I'm banned from the dugout for the game that could relegate us. In a way, it's rather fitting. And it gives Cattermole his chance to shine. I tell him the starting line-up, and get to the directors' box in time to see that he's ignored me completely, bringing Vardy back from his latest spell of exile and playing Karamoko in his natural midfield position.

    His maverick move unbelievably pays off. We fall behind, but equalise thanks to a goal from… Vardy, his first of the season! But the miracles end there. We concede again in the second half, before any hope of a comeback is dashed with Travis' fourth red card of the year. Millwall have been relegated from the Premier League.

    https://preview.redd.it/3ec8iwtvyg051.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ac67a208311bfbffbc37c441a2b036637df01098

    A Weight off Our Shoulders

    In spite of winning just twice in 2024, the board let me keep my job, and in fact are relatively pleased with the work I'm doing. Budgets are understandably cut dramatically for the forthcoming season. Thankfully, my veteran signing policy means we have a number of retirements approaching. Fellaini, Costa, McClean, and Holebas will all clear over £100k p/w from the wage bill.

    (Incidentally, Costa announces his retirement in true Costa-style, claiming he'd struggled to break into the first team. I point out he'd played every minute of the last nine games, but he pretends not to hear me and wanders off.)

    There are more pressing matters at hand than the future liquidity of the club, however. Relegation now certain, we can instead focus all our efforts on increasing our disciplinary record. As Thompson and Travis are suspended for the rest of the season, I make them available for the reserves instead. Thompson promptly gets sent off against Everton's U23s. I have no words…

    https://preview.redd.it/vtcepf4yyg051.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a5255b228462e30ee1f4bf9be8031264bc2e92f2

    The first game, at Old Trafford, is a feast of shithousery. Forty fouls. Ten yellow cards – Barnes, Ferguson, Fisher, Boto, Karamoko, Pearson, Lenihan, Besic, Holebas, and Rafferty ending up in the book. I'm amazed United managed to put some moves together between the stoppages…

    https://preview.redd.it/mcq2pib0zg051.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3bb72f51e92638a1c8a6fc83530331cf62a68e6e

    Leicester is a disappointing follow-up, with a measly three cards, so for the final day of the season I implore the lads to get revenge on a Man City side needing at least a draw to guarantee the title. There's a party atmosphere at The Den – the fans having seen us close the last two seasons with multiple red cards – and the players don't let the Millwall faithful down. Our final game in the Premier League, our swansong, the Last Charge of the Millwall Bastards, sees Besic dismissed for an awful challenge on De Bruyne, Kragl joining him for two bookings, and four other players carded. The FA fine us for one last time, taking our tally to £425,000. It's a fitting end to a remarkable campaign. We should've booked in Andrea Bocelli.

    https://preview.redd.it/6g5i3pd2zg051.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=14b5d01c5bf34565ab8cceff508983593f0f5ad4

    Legacy

    Though our time in the Premier League was short-lived, our football will live long in the memories of those unfortunate enough to see it. In years to come people will speak of the most aggressive team ever to play at the Bridge, at Old Trafford, at Anfield. A team that could commit a foul every two minutes for an entire game, or pick up twelve FA fines for failing to control their players. A team made up of 30-year-old veterans way past their peak. A team whose goalkeeper scored as many as their striker. A team who beat the existing worst discipline record in mid-December…

    Millwall.

    To say we destroyed the existing records is an understatement. Our final yellow cards tally was 169 – over double the previous record, an average of four-and-a-half bookings every single game! We reached a record number of fouls even for Millwall – 1,139 – in a league with eight fewer fixtures. And the reds. The reds. Over the year Fisher (x2), Karamoko, Boto, Medel, Costa, Rafferty (x2), Besic (x2), Travis (x4), Thompson, and Kragl all received their marching orders at some point.

    https://preview.redd.it/fi64ea29zg051.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=48739aa8fcf0699e0eebe54ebf9d66fc91768833

    https://preview.redd.it/kfel90ibzg051.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=849961b49aaa19320c9bfb344a411a1ffccd676b

    https://preview.redd.it/dwo9rs0jzg051.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6c4c1216c807223c4871891cc3fd841682df1bfe

    The fans vote Grabara as player of the season. He fully deserves it, but I also want to highlight Lewis Travis and Ben Thompson for their valiant efforts to be suspended as often as possible for as long as possible. At the business end of the pitch, however, the less said the better. Our top scorers have four goals each, though Barnes did manage to pick up nine yellows to compensate.

    https://preview.redd.it/4lqlwzqgzg051.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=eaa70c93e0e84c6f0fbc823f28b0c0bf835ddce8

    I've created an album of some of our key player profiles here, for those interested.

    Epilogue

    Season 19/20 Season 20/21 Season 21/22 Season 22/23 Season 23/24
    League Position 5th 15th 12th 5th (P) 19th (R)
    League Fines £40,000 £69,500 £51,750 £69,400 £425,000
    League Yellows 156 172 172 178 169
    Yellows per Game 3.25 3.74 3.74 3.63 4.45
    League Reds 6 8 15 12 15
    League Fouls 1,118 1,045 1,023 1,190 1,139
    Fouls per Game 23.29 22.72 22.24 24.29 29.97

    https://preview.redd.it/fmaakvmlzg051.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=71427530458f4f05f78af124b2a89194f4fd302c

    It's been a remarkable ride. In five seasons we've committed 5,866 fouls, picked up 897 yellow cards, and had 60 sendings off. And the club has been remoulded from top to bottom for my philosophy. Our revamped youth setup, shared with Canelas 2010 and headed up by Lee Tomlin, is bringing through more and more unprofessional young players who argue with referees and wind up opponents. Our U19 squad is managed by Kevin Muscat, and coached by the likes of Scott Brown, Paul McShane, and Felipe Melo. Once the current generation of shithouses puts down their studs, there will be a new wave ready to take their place on the front lines.

    And with that, we're back in the Championship where we started. But it isn't about the destination, it's about the journey, and the friends we make along the way.

    https://preview.redd.it/v51mi5ipzg051.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e9071e403c60aa8e103bbacb2be5282832499f49

    submitted by /u/Hurball
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    Inspirational.

    Posted: 23 May 2020 10:19 AM PDT

    He was supposed to be the chosen one.

    Posted: 23 May 2020 12:23 PM PDT

    Hide your wonderkids

    Posted: 23 May 2020 05:39 AM PDT

    You're being seriously overrun in midfield, human.

    Posted: 23 May 2020 01:44 PM PDT

    Well that's unfortunate.

    Posted: 23 May 2020 03:39 AM PDT

    That Greece/Israel match must've really been something...

    Posted: 23 May 2020 08:19 PM PDT

    Absolute stunner in the Club World Cup

    Posted: 23 May 2020 03:06 PM PDT

    Moving on from his multiple Michelin-Starred restaurants, introducing Arsenal's new coach.

    Posted: 23 May 2020 09:59 AM PDT

    Has Football Manager ever been this nice to anyone before...?

    Posted: 23 May 2020 05:11 AM PDT

    One of the weirdest signings I've made in FM20...

    Posted: 23 May 2020 10:16 AM PDT

    I hate this goddamn game

    Posted: 23 May 2020 07:28 AM PDT

    16 composure and 18 decisions? Take your time on the line!

    Posted: 23 May 2020 10:23 AM PDT

    The Road to 2100: An Introduction to my Football Manager Career Blog

    Posted: 23 May 2020 10:20 AM PDT

    Hello Reddit! For those of you here who recognise my username, you may remember that this isn't the first time I've posted about my game world before. I've posted a couple of open question blogs and screenshots about what my game world looks like in the future. Since I purchased FM18 on its release I have played through the same campaign and, even as new editions have come out I just didn't ever have the heart to leave behind what I had started. So, here I am now- I've just finished the 2063-64 season and recently an aim dawned on me:

    I am going to play every season until I authentically reach the year 2100.

    I will try to stay employed at a club every season that I can be, and aside from offing the odd friendly to my AssMan I will -as I have done on this save with over 3000 hours dedicated thus far- play every single match until we reach the new millennia, documenting my story every major step of the way. So, I am formally starting this journey here on Reddit as a semi-regular blog and I hope that some of you out there are willing to join me on it. (As a side-note, if anybody knows the best tag for 'blog' style posts, please let me know!

    As the introduction to this hopeful journey, I thought I would answer a few likely questions so you can understand where I currently stand in this world:

    Q: Why are you starting this challenge now in the year 2064 and not... you know... 2017 when the game save started?

    A: Well, because I hadn't thought of it until now! But, there are a few other reasons. For starters, my degree is about to be done for this year and I'd like a summer project as a writer. Secondly, this is a very interesting time in the save! I have all the major world leagues loaded and some really big shifts are starting to take place: Everton have just won their first PL title since the game started, the French League has become the dominant league in world football, with clubs such as SM Caen, Monaco, Bordeaux and PSG all winning recent Champions League's. RB Leipzig is the most powerful club on earth and Real Madrid almost got relegated from the Spanish League. And, not only have all the real world footballers retired from being players, but a lot have now also begun retiring as coaches and managers too, so we're on the verge of having an entirely regen-populated save. I personally love regens and the stories behind them, so this is very exciting to me and it feels like a good time-line place to start a blog.

    ___

    Q: Has the game editor ever been used on the save, and have you holidayed up to this point in the save?

    A: No, the editor has never been, and never will be used. And no, I have never holidayed through large portions of the save, I have played almost every match from 2017-2064.

    ___

    Q: Have you played the same manager and clubs throughout the save?

    A: Nope to both. I started as playing as myself (Alex Healy in the game), but when my own character hit 70 years old I retired and continued the save as one of my best regen players Nassim van den Burg. Between the two managers, I have managed:

    Alex: Sporting Lisbon, Monaco (2 spells), England National Team (4 spells), AC Milan, Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal, Portugal National Team and Barcelona / Retired in 2056.

    Nassim: Ajax, Spain National Team, Chelsea, Bordeaux. / Still ongoing.

    ___

    Q: What's the aim of the blog?

    A: Merely to create entertainment and to make it feel like the monumental effort and time put into this save so far has been legitimately worth something. If there's enough interest in this as a challenge, I will seriously consider streaming it as an online save.

    ___

    Q: Will we get to learn what has happened so far in the save? Has anything weird happened?

    A: Yes and yes. I am working on compiling a story about my own character's managerial career from 2017-2056, including what happened and what changed in the world of football, which will be released later this summer; hopefully late next month once my uni assignments are all done. This should bring any interested people up to speed on the state of my save and how the major European and world leagues have evolved.

    ___

    Q: What will the blog contain?

    A: Whatever you want it to! And this is really the point of this introduction post. I don't know what kind of stuff this sub-reddit would be interested in seeing from a blog of this nature? Do you want it to be quite matter-of-fact and analytical? Or do you want it to be more in the style of creative fiction: turning the events of the game save into a kind of alternate future narrative story? I'd love to hear your feedback, suggestions, and please let me know if this is something you would enjoy reading if I were to publish it to the sub once in a while. Thank you so much for reading and stay safe!

    -Alex

    Please feel free to ask any questions below!

    submitted by /u/ThePirateWhoSaysArr
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    Season 11 at Sunderland: I don't think I will ever recover from this season

    Posted: 23 May 2020 09:11 PM PDT

    Unbeaten in a season

    Posted: 23 May 2020 12:11 PM PDT

    Collectively, these 2 and Odriozola played 5 matches for RMA. I felt bad so loaned them in. Wasn't allowed to play against RMA. Now purchased for a combined 15mil and debut as Valencia players.

    Posted: 23 May 2020 09:07 AM PDT

    People say PSG are bad? How about Bayern Munich

    Posted: 23 May 2020 03:29 PM PDT

    In my save with Hertha Berlin, I sold a 29 year old Marius Wolf for to them for £50M. You know that's grand, a nice chunk of money for a player thats on the older side, not gonna say no. I had a young German/Aussie named Kyle Wright lined up anyway, was a striker but was mainly a right winger, had a return as well for Stuttgart, had a release of clause of £44M as well, not too shabby, GOES TO BAYERN. Matthias Jahn from Leverkusen, release clause of £20M, was my second option after Kyle, but wait, HE also GOES TO BAYERN. WTF? that's 3 right wingers, for a combined fee of £114M, why? Why do this to me both of the transfer targets to replace Marius Wolf, Bayern München are now dead to me

    submitted by /u/DepressedDingo
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    Went to make a cup of tea, assuming I was going to lose 3-0, it was safe to say I was a little shock when returning to my computer when I saw that my DM had scored a 5 minute hatrick to salvage a point

    Posted: 23 May 2020 03:01 PM PDT

    Oh the irony...

    Posted: 23 May 2020 09:30 AM PDT

    Alexis Sanchez - how do I get rid of him?

    Posted: 23 May 2020 10:22 AM PDT

    Four hundred grand a week?! He's just returning from his loan and no one will take him. I've even offered him for nothing. Can I just dump him in the under 23s and fine him constantly to make him unhappy and force a move that way?

    submitted by /u/ResidentOwl
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    Wait a second... I have two games in one day and the second one is on the other side of the continent?

    Posted: 23 May 2020 07:45 AM PDT

    Fired in 1st season of contract

    Posted: 23 May 2020 04:04 PM PDT

    6th season overall, managed to get hired by Werder Bremen. Goals were Euro Cup qualified and 3rd round of DFB Pokal.

    24 games in, we're mathematically alive for Euro cup, and made it to Semifinals in DFB Pokal. Then I'm fired. First time playing this game, but damn that's harsh.

    submitted by /u/Weirdo1821
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    Proud of my Wolves!

    Posted: 23 May 2020 05:24 PM PDT

    Such an unfortunate name...

    Posted: 23 May 2020 08:43 PM PDT

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