Career Rise of the Dragons

[Taff]

So this is a simple story of me taking a team from the Vanarama National League to the dizzying heights of the EPL winning as much as i can along the way.

Now being a proud Welshman I chose to take Wrexham the lowest placed Welsh team in combined English leagues and raise them up to the Champions of the footballing world.

My secondary goal is to eventually take over the Welsh national team and get them to win both the European Championship and the World cup, but I have chosen to start as a club manager first and only take the Welsh job if and when it becomes available

So without further ado I present 

Rise of the Dragons

Season 1

So as I said I will be taking over at Wrexham who are currently in the Vanarama National League and attempt to promote them to the EPL winning everything along the way

To do this I have decided to use variations on my 4231 tactic which has been working weel in my 1K and SAF challenges

Here's the tactic as I started the season

 

I chose to stick to an attacking mentality but swap the WB's for FB's, and my BPD for a CD 

Then after a bad run I changed it to one CD and one LD took pressing off and added Counter Attack, but this left me vulnerable so I took that off as well and that is where the tactic ended up.

Transfers

Now I'll admit I very very rarely play this low down and am next to useless at knowing what sort of players to sign so at the beginning of the year I brought in two players Tom King (GK) on loan from Milwall and James Lovridge (RIF) from Port Talbot to boost my wide player options, then come Christmas I needed some cash and fast and luckily Loveridge wanted to join a bigger club so I sold him to Luton Town for £800K and got a tasty £730K profit, then using the list by @Canonico25 I bought some recommended players to help the team Kurtis March (AP) from Port Talbot who played well most games, Scott Garner (CD) to give me more options and Lorcan Fitzgerald (LB) to help out as i had one player for that position, then Iffy Allen from Torquay to replace Loveridge (he was top of the Avg rating list) Not shown are my two after season additions in Alan Martin (GK) who I bought for £160K from Hamilton to be my new first choice and Charlie Burn (GK) on a free transfer as my Backup (with both my 1st and 2nd coice being out of favour and out of contract)

So after the January transfer window my team now bolstered with new talent we were off in search of the top spot

League

So my first season and a few bad patched early on while I got my tactic working and we were fighting it out with Cheltenham and Grimsby for the top spot and it was a close race leading by 2 points going into the last game of the season....

Both Cheltenham and ourselves win our final game but that still meant that Wrexham win the Vanarama National League Title and Promotion to Sky Bet League 2

Cups

Our as for cup competition I was tempted to concentrate on the league, but with the FA Trophy available I decided to have a go as this was (hopefully) my only chance to win it...

And win it we did thanks to a 2-0 win over Tranmere

As for the FA Cup we crashed out to Newcastle in the third round, but I was happy to get my little team that far (and we only lost 2-0 not a bad result against a Premiership club)

Fixtures

Here's our full season fixture list

Some bad patched early on where I was still trying to get the tactic right but a good season all around

Player Stats

Here's my team stats for the year

James Gray leading the way with 32 goals and 12 assists with Wes York who played well as either IF or ADF and Jennings getting the assists from the AP position 

Season Awards

We claim some end of season awards to with Gray claiming POTY and York claiming the YPOTY, but surprised to find my self runner up in the MOTY but no sour grapes

So now onto League 2 and hopefully another good season for the Dragons of Wrexham

Thanks for following and stay tuned

[Real_Random]

Nice start mate. Can't wait till the next update. Hopefully you get some great welsh players during this career.

[Taff]

5 minutes ago, Real_Random said:

Nice start mate. Can't wait till the next update. Hopefully you get some great welsh players during this career.

I just looked through my first team and out of 18 players only two Welsh, plenty of English, Scottish and Irish so a proper home nations team.  I'll make sure to pick some more up on the way

[Real_Random]

17 minutes ago, Taff said:

I just looked through my first team and out of 18 players only two Welsh, plenty of English, Scottish and Irish so a proper home nations team.  I'll make sure to pick some more up on the way

They are a pretty good team to be honest.

[Taff]

1 hour ago, Real_Random said:

They are a pretty good team to be honest.

Yeah their not doing to bad

[AndersJ]

Cool taff

are you using the first tactic that you started with :)?

[Mikee1984]

Great start mate looks like back to back promotions are on the cards with the way you've started in league 2.

[Taff]

3 hours ago, AndersJ said:

Cool taff

are you using the first tactic that you started with :)?

Yes the 2nd tactic and it's working wonders especially with York as my IF and my new striker (no spoilers)

1 hour ago, Mikee1984 said:

Great start mate looks like back to back promotions are on the cards with the way you've started in league 2.

Cheers dude can't believe how well it's gone so far now sitting in 1st with a 10 point gap on my nearest rivals

[AndersJ]

Very interesting - can you see an effect of the no press policy ?

[Taff]

I just think it tires the players out quicker if their always chasing the player with the ball but it does mean more goals conceded as the opposition has more freedom to push forward 

[Real_Random]

Fantastic job in league 2 mate. KIU

[Taff]

Rise of the Dragons

Season 2

So after a great start we are now facing tougher opposition in League 2, So with the board asking me to avoid relegation I inform them that my goal is a respectable league position, hoping to get a decent place this year and then improve next (little did I know how wrong I'd be).  So with that in mind we delve into the transfer market and pick up some new blood for the team and begin our journey into what was a very surprising season

Transfers

So first a big thanks to @Jack and @Mikee1984 for some of their recommendations on lower league players, it helped a lot 

@Jack's recommended two Irish players in the form of McCormack (CM) and McBride (CD) both of whom were straight into the first team and @Mikee1984 recommended Anthony Jeffery (IF) who was an excellent option on either flank, then Iain Vigurs was brought in as I had no real LW players and Lanell John-Lewis I grabbed from newly demoted Newport Co as I have used him before and is a great addition to any lower league strike force and finally as mentioned in my last post Charlie Burns was a great free transfer as a backup GK

Going out where a few players who now had no real place in the squad and those who either weren't wanted or didn't want to stay

League

Now as I said before this seasons goal was to achieve a decent league position (anywhere between 12th and 8th I would have been happy with), but after 2 early draws the boys pulled out all the stops....

And go on not only to win promotion but the whole league and in some style as well gaining over 100 points and 112 goals along the way, couldn't be more proud of the team this season and that's two back to back promotions

Cups

No cups this year after early exits in both the Capital One Cup (2-2p against Wolves) and the Johnstone Paints Trophy (0-1 to Oldham) did manage to make the fourth round of the FA Cup this year loosing 0-1 to Liverpool (but holding a team like that to a single goal was more than enough to me)

Fixtures

Here's our full season fixtures and as you can see after a slowish start the boys went on the rampage (But am sick to death of the AI changing to a 442 counter in litterly every game, and this is where most of my losses came from teams grabbing the winner either very early or very late

Player Stats

Here's my player stats for the year

My new Forward John-Lewis was killing it for most of the season then like so many of my strikers just seemed to fall off the face of the earth come FEB-MAR time but a good 34 goal season with York, Gray and Allen helping out and Allan and York coming with the assists from the IF/AP positions 

Season Awards

Another bumper crop of awards this year as well John-Lewis claiming the POTY, York and Allen coming 1st and 2nd in the YPOTY and I finally get my MOTY award too

So now onto our third season and another league, again I've gone for "respectable league position" and have been given £2.5M in transfer funds but can't decide whether to blow it all on two star players or grab 4-5 decent players

Again thanks for following and stay tuned

[Taff]

AAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH

I've been at this for 40 minutes and cannot get a single player to sign for my team I hate league 1

[Real_Random]

1 hour ago, Taff said:

AAAAARRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH

I've been at this for 40 minutes and cannot get a single player to sign for my team I hate league 1

Don't lose hope mate. It may be hard but my tip is to search for Regens from the premier league. They usually have low wages so you can buy them. Price may be a problem though. Good Luck

[Taff]

31 minutes ago, Real_Random said:

Don't lose hope mate. It may be hard but my tip is to search for Regens from the premier league. They usually have low wages so you can buy them. Price may be a problem though. Good Luck

Cheers dude I've had a few offers accepted by the club but none of the players want to sign for such a small club, even when I'm offering like double their wages, but sod them I'll see how my little club does without anyone else

[Real_Random]

11 minutes ago, Taff said:

Cheers dude I've had a few offers accepted by the club but none of the players want to sign for such a small club, even when I'm offering like double their wages, but sod them I'll see how my little club does without anyone else

Going ahead without any new recruits. Risky mate. Can't wait for your next update

[Taff]

6 minutes ago, Real_Random said:

Going ahead without any new recruits. Risky mate. Can't wait for your next update

I've got no choice no bugger will sign with me

[Dhxn]

Im doing something similar to this with Eastbourne Borough. Like my derby team, i have massive plans of dominating europe. But that has to wait for 2017 heh. Quite excellent story so far taff!

[Taff]

After changing my tactic early on in the season to my 442 we seem to be doing OK in League 1 at the half way point in the season

[AndersJ]

Rock on Taff - thats amazing mate!

youve Got so many tactics so could you link to which one you are using at the moment :)?

[Taff]

43 minutes ago, AndersJ said:

Rock on Taff - thats amazing mate!

youve Got so many tactics so could you link to which one you are using at the moment :)?

Yeah no worries dude I'm back to using the Attacking 442 I crated ages ago here's the link

Look at page 6 and the Man City screen shots and apart from the AP and BBM being switched this is the tactic I've been using 

 

[Taff]

Rise of the Dragons

Season 3

So after two excellent seasons we are now a League 1 team and the goal again this year is to achieve a respectable league position (I don't want to get too cocky after our great spell in League 2)

So after a decent but far from great start I chose to switch tactics and decided to try my Attacking 442 formation that I haven't used in a while in an attempt to get both my forwards scoring again

Here's the tactic and instruction (note that I messed with the Attackers player roles swapping the TM for an AF for a bit and then the PCR for an AF for a bit but ended up using the following most of the season in the end

Transfers

Now I couldn't get anyone to sign with me this season (even on loan) so we went the first half of the seasons with no additional players, then come the JAN transfer window I managed to grab two midfielders to bolster the ranks

Rob Evans (AP) helped out and grabbed a few goals and assists and Charlie Russel (BBM) who I brought in for his 15 stamina 

Just unwanted players out this year

League

So now onto our league campaign and as you can see from one of the previous posts we were sitting in 1st place at the mid point of the season, but could we hold out and make it three promotions back to back to back

Oh yes they can, winning the League with 7 games to go and for the second straight season we break the 100 mark in both Goals and Points and we are just steamrolling our way up the tables (I honestly can't believe how well were doing)

Cups

Again no joy in the cups this year Loosing out in the 2nd round of the Capital one cup to Derby (0-2), 1st round of the JPT to Doncaster (1-3) who we then went on to beat (4-1 and 2-0) in the league and Lost in the 3rd round of the FA cup to Stoke (0-2)

Fixtures

Here's our full season fixture list (just missing a 1-1 draw against Chesterfield on the last day of the season).  I switched the tactic in mid SEP (the 5-1 thrashing of Preston being the first game)

Player Stats

Here's how my players did this year (Rob Collins was the surprise of the season coming into the TM role after John-Lewis was injured for 2 months and the kid delivered scoring a hat-trick in his first game)

11 goals and 3 assists for a guy who has not seen a minute of play time until now (watch this space), But York and John-Lewis bringing most of the goals this season with Allen and York bringing the assists.  My two signings Evans and Russell managed to grab 2 goals apiece and 5 assists between them.

Season Awards

A runner up spot for York in the POTY and I grab my second MOTY award

So another fantastic season for Wrexham now in the Championship (I think this is where it gets really hard) let's hope we can make a few signings this time around and also improve our facilities and stadium (which the board are still refusing to do)

So Stay tuned and thanks for following

[Taff]

Just a mid season update from the Championship

Not too bad but it's very close between 1st and 10th with less than 10 points between them

[JohnMU]

You bought in any new players?

[Real_Random]

1 hour ago, Taff said:

Just a mid season update from the Championship

Not too bad but it's very close between 1st and 10th with less than 10 points between them

@Taff is this the right image. I was expecting a league table 

[Taff]

20 minutes ago, Real_Random said:

@Taff is this the right image. I was expecting a league table 

What are you seeing then because the image is a league tabel

[Taff]

39 minutes ago, JohnMU said:

You bought in any new players?

Had a young striker on loan from Chelsea who was useless, a free BBM who's doing OK then in the January window I signed Loveridge back from Luton for £1M and a CD from Villa for £2.5M and then replaced the loan striker for another one from Stoke who's doing ok at the moment, had a horrible Jan loosing and drawing every game except the last one of the month, but back on track now

[Taff]

Rise of the Dragons

Season 4

Here we are again and another new league, confidence is high, but were being realistic this year and are again aiming for a respectable league position (although I'd settle for staying up and not getting sacked)

Transfers

Struggled again at the beginning of the year to get anyone to sign for me (think it's the small ground and "good" training facilities, but did grab two players, Lee Proctor (PCR) on loan from Chelsea and Marvin Stegeman (BBM) on a free, then come January we let Proctor go (he was decent but his stamina was god awful) so did a straight loan swap and got Ngoy (PCR) in from Stoke (who was excellent), then brought back the prodical son Loveridge (IF/PCR) and Leahy (CD) from Villa (again good player but awful stamina)

Just unwanted players again going out

League

Now bare with me as there are a lot of screen shots to get through

So we battled hard this season loosing a few but also picking up some big wins, and come the last day of the season (sorry accidentally deleted the screen shot) we are sitting in 4th place 1 point behind QPR in 2nd and level on points with Burnley in 3rd.

As you can see we would play Burnley on the last day and QPR would face West Brom (who are in 19th????) so if we could grab a win and West Brom hold QPR to a draw we would get automatic promotion from the Championship

We did our part smashing Burnley 6-3 thanks to a double from Allen and my loanee striker Ngoy, but could West Brom help us out

Sadly not loosing to a single goal, which meant the table looked like this at the end of the regular season

We move up 1 place and finish our Championship campaign in 3rd place 1 point behind QPR, so into the playoffs we go and go up against Nottingham Forest in the Playoff semi final

first game just about goes our way thanks to a hat-trick from Ngoy, can we hold onto this narrow lead....

And then Some what a result for the little boys from Wales 5-0 (8-2 agg) and we progress to play Burnely in the playoff final, could the dream come to and end or will Wrexham be a Premier League team next season

HA HA HA HA we did it thanks to an extra time winner from York we are promoted for the fourth straight season, and I can't wait as the Premiership now consists of three Welsh teams with us, Swansea and Cardiff all in the top flight

Cups

Again nothing to report this year we crash out in the Second round of the Capital one cup to Norwich (who I didn't realise were a League 1 team this year) and manage to hold Tottenham to a 1-1 draw in the third round of the FA Cup to then get beaten 2-1 in the replay 

Fixtures

Here's our full season fixture list

As you can see had an abizmal run in January but the boys did enough to fight back and get into the Premier League

Player Stats

Here's how the boys did this year

York and Allen top of the tables again but can I just say 27 assists from an IF is huge to me, also got a screen shot of Ngoy after his loan ended

14 goals and 5 assists in 17 games, this guy was key to our promotion and If I can he'll be the first signing next season

Season Awards

We grab a few awards this year with Allen grabbing the POTY (and rightly so) my young striker Collins coming 2nd in the YPOTY and to my surprise (humble much) I claim another MOTY award

So Wrexham in the EPL how can we do and will I still be manager after this season, let's hope my board confidence looks like this next season

Thanks again for following and commenting guys means a lot

Stay tuned for episode 5 The Wrath of Wrexham 

 

[AndersJ]

And you just keep n going - impressive mate - really awesome!!!!

congrats with the big step to the big boys league - im really looking forward to seerne you qualifying for Europe in the first season

good luck!

[Taff]

2 hours ago, AndersJ said:

And you just keep n going - impressive mate - really awesome!!!!

congrats with the big step to the big boys league - im really looking forward to seerne you qualifying for Europe in the first season

good luck!

High expectations I'll try to do you proud