Career The Great Escape - Complete!

[Ulysses]

Hi all, I dont post on here all that often but enjoy following along. My first football management game was Ultimate Soccer Manager 2, but I converted to Sports Interactive around 1999 and have ben playing their games ever since, mostly the mobile versions since I got married in 2010 as i just don't have time for the full on FM these days. 

Anyway, being a Pompey fan I know a thing or two about relegation dog-fights, so I noticed when Chris Sutton recently stated his belief that Norwich City are the best team to have ever been bottom of the Premier League. Make of that what you will. But it seems FMM disagrees, judging but this situation:

So, when this happened, having started a new career unemployed, I couldn't refuse the challenge:

Can I turn things around and pull off the great escape?

At least I've got an easy 6 pointer at home against fellow strugglers Bournemouth to begin with, I though to myself as I settled in to my new office:

Ah, this may be harder than I thought!

Edited May 5, 2020 by Ulysses

[Ulysses]

So, after the discouraging start again the Cherries, how can we do in the next handful of games?

Well, our next one was against another relegation rival in Crystal Palace. A good start after top scorer Duda won and converted an early penalty, but everything went downhill from there!

Burnley up next, and finally we get some points on the board. In fact we quadruple our season total!

Southampton away are just too strong!

But our home form is improving!

And a lucky win away to Wolves makes it two on the bounce for the first time this season!

And then, for the first time during my managerial reign, and, if I'm not mistaken possible my last, we actually keep a clean sheet in the league!

So, things are looking up: The board are happy; the January transfer window is just around the corner and we have £40 million in the bank to spend; and two of my players even played well enough to win some awards!

The only downsides are we're still 6 points off 19th and face Chelsea and Man City next - what could go wrong?!

Edited May 2, 2020 by Ulysses

[Ulysses]

Our valiant, yet perhaps doomed, efforts to escape relegation, continue...

Chelsea were surprisingly weak, table topping Man City on the other hand were not, despite Rhodri's sending off.

Our home form is definitely on the up as we dispatch fellow strugglers Sheff Utd, which means that a win in our next game against Bournemouth will bring us level on points with them in 19th.

But alas...

And the poor away form continues as our ten men get destroyed by the hammers and we stay rooted in last place as the Jan transfer window cranks open, but now only 4 points behind Bournemouth.

But, on a positive note, my second XI get a result (just about) in the FA Cup. Left back Sam McCallum with a debut goal.

[JustM1kePlays]

Very mixed bag of result here for you. Seem to be heading in the right direction though.

[Ulysses]

On 03/05/2020 at 12:28, JustM1kePlays said:

Very mixed bag of result here for you. Seem to be heading in the right direction though.

Yeah we're very inconsistent - pretty decent upfront but have a leaky defence so I tend to just go all out attack from the off. Sometimes that works out well but sometimes we just get thrashed. I guess that is what you get when you take over a club in such bad form.

[Ulysses]

The escape attempt continues...

Beginning with a few ins and outs in the Jan Transfer Window:

The fact that a midfield was our top scorer meant we desperately needed that sought-after 20-goal a season striker, and then a couple of signings to sure things up defensively were the main items on the agenda.

After the short winter break the action resumed:

It started off so well, but Harry Kane was just too good for us!

But that's ok because we picked up an important win in our next game

Followed by a nice bonus in the FA Cup

So, we're almost there! And by "there" I mean not last anymore! But our next three games on the fixture list don't look good!

And we pull of no shocks, in fact getting more and more destroyed each game!

After that run my standing with the board has taken a big hit, which seems a tad harsh if you ask me!

The FA Cup run is saving my job at the moment it seems:

[Ulysses]

So, with my (still fairly new) job already hanging in the balance, can we start to move away from 20th place?

In a word... no! Apparently my defence don't get paid enough to tackle Dominic Calvert-Lewin.

Or, it seems, Raul Jimenez:

At this point the only consolation is that the teams around me are just as bad as I am!

But a kind draw in the FA Cup sends us to Wembley and keeps my career going for a while longer:

Then, this happened...

Finally, a much needed win, against a Palace side that were in the top half of the table when I took over at Norwich but are now 18th.

In fact, it's enough to move us up to 19th! Can we build on this?

For goodness sake Norwich!

Next up is the FA Cup semi final, against table topping Man City. It's a guaranteed loss anyway and the league is more important, so I rest my first XI, and this happens:

Why can't you do that in the league Adam?!

Southampton up next and it's a chance for some easy 3 points

Win our game in hand and we'll be up to 18th and within sight of staying in the promised land for another year...

Come on, what did you expect?

[Ulysses]

The Great Escape - The Penultimate Chapter:

So, losing to Liverpool in our game in hand meant we lost the chance to climb to the heady heights of 18th, but this tidy result keeps us in the fight:

My January signings are paying off... Although perhaps I should have signed Joelinton!

Just two games left now, next up is 3rd placed Chelsea:

And again we manage a surprise draw against them!

Which means, going into the final day of the season the table looks like this:

There's hope! Especially as our next game is Villa at home! Ok, its a slim hope I'll give you that, but its there. Which, no matter what happens next, I'm proud of, especially considering Norwich had 1 point from their first 9 games when I took over as manager!

Edited May 5, 2020 by Ulysses

[Ulysses]

The Great Escape - The Final Chapter:

Well, there it is! We did our part. Easy enough again the team bottom of the table.

But, it wasn't in our own hands. We needed 2 out of the 3 teams above us to drop points - over to you Burnley, Bournemouth and Crystal Palace.

Tiny pixelated Norwich fans anxiously turned to their phones to search for the results...

And its confirmed, the Great Escape is complete. Move over Houdini Harry, we now have, errr... Unbelievable Ulysses? Perhaps not!

For the first time since I took over we are above 19th place in the table.

In FM20 Mobile I've had some fun careers: I've won the champions league with Man Utd with an all home-grown squad; I've got Pompey into the Premiership all whilst making a profit on transfers; I've won the World Cup with Wales; but I think this was my favourite! It was a roller coaster ride, but I'll forever have a soft spot for Cantwell and Duda now, and perhaps always harbour a grudge against Joelinton!

There's just one think left to do: the FA Cup final...

Yeah, it was a step too far, but a great day out at Wembley for the fans.

Epilogue:

[JustM1kePlays]

Great job, Loved that it came down to the wire. 

[Ulysses]

2 hours ago, JustM1kePlays said:

Great job, Loved that it came down to the wire. 

Thanks!

[Dagion]

Nice work! Fun to read and indeed exciting to see it come down to the last game. Not always that much fun though 😉