Career Geordiekrispy took York FC as far as he could: S10

[geordiekrispy]

43 minutes ago, Mr B said:

It's probably better that you don't touch it at all during the World Cup. You've seen what's happened to the others! 

Beware the curse... bewaaarre the cuuuuurrrsssssse

I did make sure to backup my saves before I started the first round 😎

[geordiekrispy]

End of Season 3 Review

Second season in the bag and let’s see if the first season after non-league was as tough as we expected it to be, fingers crossed for playoffs!

 

The Squad

Goalkeepers

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Defence

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Midfield

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Attackers

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Overall Training Attributes

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GK

 

Mental

Physical

Technical

 

The Best XI - As of 24th June 2023

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Current and Potential Ratings

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1st Team

Reserves

Transfers

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Academy Players Released

  

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I don't seem to have screenshots for these guys, but if I can find them I'll add them in tonight (a season later).

  

Awards

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I managed to get coach of the year, yay!

 

And Potts got top scorer in the league!

Retiree(s)

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My captain from the start of the season had decided to retire and rather than extend his pain, I started to phase him out last season and this season he hardly played at all.

Needless to say he didn't join the non-playing staff as I was my coaching slots were all filled up.

Player Stats

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Manager Profile & History

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Job Offers

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So a couple of Championship clubs looking at me, which is nice.

 

Leagues & Cups

League

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FA Cup

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Papa John's Trophy

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 Carabo Cup

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End of Season Review

I have no idea how we managed that! Just pipping Bolton to the title was awesome, our defence seemed rock solid, I was worried as I had pretty much phased Newton, our captain, out of the side as he wanted to retire at the end of the season and his attributes has started to drop below the younger lads who would be taking his place. So a change in central defence and a change of captain was a big ask for the lads!

I did have to change up the tactics again around the new year to a 4-1-2-1-2 (essentially a narrow diamond) which seemed to get more goals and it meant I didn’t have to rely on the wingers, which going forward is going to be the plan as Bunn is starting to get on and Potts seems better up front that on the wing as his crossing doesn’t seem to be improving.

 

There’s a few players who I think have maxed out their attributes, which is a shame as some of the seem quite young, but then some of the older ones keep getting bumps occasionally so maybe it’s just an age thing? Not that it says that. I did get my first “progress being stifled by the lack of quality training grounds" message, but a quick board request later (thankfully it was approved) and he was happy again.

A decent cup run in the pizza plate was nice, but it took it out of the players towards the end and it was hard to have players fit for the league after those games. Three cups and the league is a massive ask for such a small (and not very good) squad.

 

Onwards and upwards to League One! I have no idea what it’s going to be like, but I think I’m going to be struggling as the players are topping out on their abilities and there’s only so much tactics can do! Fingers crossed for maybe mid-table or possibly sneaking in the playoffs… (I don’t know as I haven’t actually finished the season yet!)

[broodje kip]

Well done mate. Good luck in league 1

[hhooo]

Tactics can probably get you into the championship before you get annhilated and fired!

[Rich]

Very good going mate, good luck next season 🤞🏻

[StuartM]

This might be stating the bleeding obvious but having started an unemployed career and taken the York job, I can tell you that 3 straight promotions with no signings is massive! Well done and I hope the success continues even if success might need redefining from now on!!

[geordiekrispy]

End of Season 4 Review

After somehow winning League 2 we move on to League 1 and like I've said before, I'm expecting it to be tough as the quality of players in the other teams improves and I've got my fingers crossed for mid table, maybe sneaking into the playoffs.

 

The Squad

I'm just going to show the attributes at the end of the season. Because I'm lazy and the gifs are a pain in the arse to make and uploading them makes everything go weird.

Goalkeepers

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Defence

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Midfield

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Attackers

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Overall Training Attributes

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GK

 

Mental

Physical

Technical

 

The Best XI - As of 19th July 2024

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Current and Potential Ratings

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Transfers

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Academy Players Released

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Awards

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Retiree(s)

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Player Stats

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Manager Profile & History

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Job Offers

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Leagues & Cups

League

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FA Cup

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Carabao Cup

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End of Season Review

I have no idea how we managed that! I swear we were mid-table around Christmas and I was hoping to gold on and maybe sneak into the bottom of the playoff positions, but no we decided to go on a massive run of form and start scoring loads!

I did bring Jones in from the reserves as he didn't go on loan this season (no idea why) and quite frankly he was a revelation! I've had a couple of messages about him deserving a national team place which would be awesome, but it might mean he wants to leave. We'll have to see.

There is definitely players who have maxed out, but not many of the older ones who are dropping drastically, which is good.
I did have another retiree in Redshaw who was consistent, but with the emergence of Jones I didn't need him, I'll probably bring Guilfoyle up next season to allow Cassidy to step away too as he's over 30 now and I need my strikers to improve more.

My midfield is looking either old or not very good so I'm worried going forward...

 

Another cup to add to the collection as well in the Pizza Plate.

The first time we had a gold academy player too, so I'll be keeping an eye on him too!

Most of the job offers have been Championship or lower up to now, so some Premier League ones sprinkled in there too this season, plus Belgium! No idea why!

 

Let's see what the Championship has to offer... I reckon it'll be even more of a struggle.

Edited July 23, 2021 by geordiekrispy

[Rich]

Well done mate, great write up and a great season. Looking forward to seeing how you get on next season 👍

[geordiekrispy]

6 minutes ago, Rich said:

Well done mate, great write up and a great season. Looking forward to seeing how you get on next season 👍

I expect it to be really really tough.

The players are quite simply not good enough to be challenging for promotion or even playoffs.

 

And I've still got 5 more years to go! I think consolidation could be the key.

[leedsunited87]

Wow this is amazing, how the hell are you doing so well lol some proper oldies in there now, next season will be super tough, proper relegation battle on your hands, GL! 

[broodje kip]

You’re killing this mate. Championship would be tough but I really hope you can reach Premier League soon.

[StuartM]

That is spectacular Geordie!

[geordiekrispy]

1 hour ago, leedsunited87 said:

Wow this is amazing, how the hell are you doing so well lol some proper oldies in there now, next season will be super tough, proper relegation battle on your hands, GL! 

Honestly, I don't know! I keep feeling like the wheels are about to come off, then change the tactic or have to stop playing to play the world cup or something else and when I come back to it we see to do really well.

44 minutes ago, broodje kip said:

You’re killing this mate. Championship would be tough but I really hope you can reach Premier League soon.

I'm still hoping I can make it all the way up there, but my score will be where I finish after 10 years, which could be back in the national league!

4 minutes ago, StuartM said:

That is spectacular Geordie!

Thanks!

[Mr Mhani]

On 20/06/2021 at 04:10, geordiekrispy said:

As it appears to be the most popular choice in the poll with just under 35% of the votes I would like to announce my latest career…

 

 I would like to say that in second place was either the Augusta challenge or the History Lane challenge. These two I think work best as H2H's and so when the new FMM drops I'm hoping that I can get some people interested in doing these with me, or let me be included in them if they se them up.

 

Taking York FC as far as I can...

The challenge is to take control of a club in the Vanarama National League North or South and taking them as far as you can in 10 seasons. Your final score being whatever position you finish that 10^th season. There are ZERO transfers in allowed, so no youth intakes or signing of grey players from the reserves either!

 

I think I’m going to be writing this career up a little differently (it may change depending on how much work it is). As there will be players that we come to love and love to hate I’ve no doubt, it’s not as if I can go and get a new player to replace someone who has a bad attitude or just plain isn’t good enough.

 

Potential Stumbling Blocks

 

I’d like to first off point some issues I can see myself coming up against and how I am hoping to get around them;

I have a feeling that once we get promoted once or twice some of the players are simply just not going to be good enough for the league they’re in. I feel I’ll be doing a bit of a Rafa and having mediocre to poor players playing well (if possible), which links into the next issue.

Managing the board’s expectations, gut instinct is that the board are going to always be surprised at how the club is doing. When we get promoted I will be trying to battle against relegation. I don’t think it’s going to be a straight shoot up the ladder like a normal bottom up career as I can’t sign new players when they retire (I’m tempted to try and get them in as staff but I feel most of them will want to be coaches and I’d prefer to get the best backroom staff I can to ensure that the players are progressing as much as they can do).

Lack of players in certain positions, as you will see by the squad it seems a bit light in certain areas. There’s only so much re-training I think I’ll be able to do. That and an fairly frequent change in formation to suit who’s available, which lead to its own problems of the players not being used to a formation (which generally isn’t an issue, but it does show in the post-match reports sometimes).

 

Player Attributes

 

I’m going to be taking screenshots of every player at the start of the end of the season (just before it ticks over) and on 1^st Jan. This should help us see how players are developing/declining. My plan is to make gifs of their attributes page.

I will also be taking screenshots of each attribute type and how people have progressed, from the training screens.

 

Player Potential

 

I also want to try and keep track of their current and potential ability. This is obviously dependent on the coaches at the club, so hopefully they’ll get better as we get coaches who are better at judging abilities rather than worse as they’re not good enough…

 

Awards

 

I’ll include any awards that I or the players receive, probably just the annual awards rather than the monthly ones too.

 

Injuries

I thought about including every injury that the players get, but I’d already got to the new year and hadn’t been taking screenshots of the messages when I had them (I had a bit injury pile up in October-ish time) and I can’t think of a way of showing players injury history.

 

Manager's Best Eleven

 

I will be taking a screenshot of the year’s best XI, plus the overall. I feel it’ll be interesting to see if players come in and surpass the initial ones or if that right back in my first season really was the best one at the club! But I feel they’ll be getting lower scores higher up the leagues so that may not accurately reflect the “best XI”.

 

Squad Depth

 

It could be interesting to see the squad depth gradually turn from green to red as players retire.

 

 

Transfers and Academy Players

Obviously I’ll not be signing anyone so I’ll be showing that in the Transfers in. But for the academy players I feel like I should keep track of them, or at least show the intake screen and individual player profile screens.

 

Retiring players

 

I feel like I should shout out any players that actually retire, I’ll probably be trying to keep them around as long as possible, even if it’s just to mentor or make up the reserve squad. Just so there’s emergency back-up if needed.

 

Staff and Manager History & Profile

 

I think watching my staff improve will be interesting, just to see if a better quality of coaches help improve the players, if better scouts mean my player current and potential abilities change and if better physios do actually mean less games missed due to injuries.

I think to start with I will be just getting the best natural staff I can do. Once I’ve got them in I doubt I’ll change them unless I need to get more fitness staff in compared to attacking/defense/etc.

 

Season Review

I'll probably write a bit of blurb about each season when I write it up, if there was anything that I needed to overcome or a good/bad run of games.

 

 

I have already a couple of seasons in the tank and will be trying to write them up in the next few days, but I can say it's a lot quicker to smash through the seasons when there's no transfers to do!

 

 

Good luck. I'm doing myself York save pretty hard but I'll sort this out.

Keep us tuned !!

[hhooo]

Wow! Many people think the jump from L1 to the championship is the hardest on the pyramid, so I'm expecting a proper pasting. But you've surprised us so far? Maybe you'll nip into the prem.

[geordiekrispy]

 End of Season 5 Review

So the Championship season is done, I can safely say it was disjointed due to the Vibe World Cup being played at the same time. Let’s see how the lads and team overall did.

 

The Squad

Goalkeepers

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Defence

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Midfield

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Attackers

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Overall Training Attributes

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GK

 

Mental

 

Technical

 

Physical

 

The Best XI - As of 20th July 2025 

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Current and Potential Ratings

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1st Team:

 

Reserves:

 

Player Stats

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Transfers

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  In:

Out:

Academy Players Released

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Awards

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Retiree(s)

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Manager Profile & History

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I used this to get them board to finally upgrade the training ground as they'd been refusing previously.

 

Job Offers

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Leagues & Cups

League

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FA Cup

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Carabou Cup

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End of Season Review

I feel like keep saying it, but again I was shocked every time I looked at the league table.

I knew we were doing ok, there was a lot of frantically changing of mentality and roles to try and keep a slim 1 goal lead or try and nick a goal to get a draw. I feel like we became the kings of coming from behind to nab a draw. I swear my set pieces are just plain useless now, I’m not sure if it’s just I’ve got no player who are actually good at crossing and corners, and very few who actually have good aerial to be able to get on the end of them, but I only occasionally get a goal from a corner and it seems to be a penalty area scramble rather than a header at the near post or whatever.

The end of this season we had to say goodbye to at least one very crucial player in McLaughlin, he seemed to realise that he could smash in a free kick towards the end of the season. Woods I tried not to use as he really dropped off the last couple of seasons as I was trying to get the other youngsters to improve (they didn’t) and Brown had been in the reserves for the last 3 or so seasons.

I’m pretty sure the only players who are improvements in the post-match screens are older players who are declining, so the matches are slowing that decline. Or Jones who seemed to be consistently getting big percentage increases and a couple of improvements over the season, it’ll be interesting to see what happens with the other players I’m bringing up from the reserves next season.

I’m really annoyed about the Martin getting sold as I cannot remember that happening at all and it would have been right at the end of the season and more than likely a buyout clause in the loan I missed (I generally remove them), he was the best of the other GKs and I was going to use him as my backup to Whitley for the rest of the challenge, playing him in cups and when Whitley was injured.

I think a change in tactics will be required, it’s really annoying me that I seem to have nobody left footed who is willing to be a winger, so I can’t just go for a simple 4-2-2-2. I’m either going to have to go asymmetrical or narrow. I feel like I could use 3 at the back to ensure we keep it relatively tight, but then we’d need someone in front of them to be able to spray the ball forward and Tinkler is our best DM and he wants to play as a BWM…

Hmm some testing maybe required, I might have to have different formations for home and away as well as if we think we can nick a result or just plain defend the waves of the big team’s attacks.

I’m thinking a 3xCD with 2 up front (a support striker and a goal scorer, maybe a DLF or PF and a P or AF), with a mixture of CM/B2B/AP/DLP (probably not a RP as I feel like I don’t want someone who is just doing what they want in such a crucial area) in midfield. With an alternating DMC or AMC. Then the two players out wide will vary on who is fit and who we’re against, WBs for bigger tough oppositions and AMs for the lower teams in the cups and weaker premier league teams and then dropping/pushing them to a WM or DW if required. I haven’t really had a flat mid field 4 so not sure how well it will work.

 

 Well it’s going to be an interesting second half of the challenge and if I can avoid being relegated I’ll be impressed. I’ve no idea if I get a string of bad results (which I have no doubt will happen at points) if the board will get all uppity and think about replacing me…

 

I might do a separate post of all the players and with the gifs of their attributes page to show their improvement/decline over the first 5 years and a little bit of blurb about what I used them for and training (if I remember).

Edited August 9, 2021 by geordiekrispy

[Rich]

Outstanding stuff mate, very impressive!

[StuartM]

Brilliant mate, this could be the standout career of the year for me... good luck next season!

[Mr Tree]

That's ridiculous - if you win the Prem next year, I'm officially marking you down as a witch! 

[geordiekrispy]

2 hours ago, Mr Tree said:

That's ridiculous - if you win the Prem next year, I'm officially marking you down as a witch! 

Unless I somehow manage to go on a massive win streak, I seriously doubt it's going to happen.

 

I'm not sure if it's the change in tactics or the better level of opposition or what but we're awful this season.

[hhooo]

4 hours ago, Mr Tree said:

That's ridiculous - if you win the Prem next year, I'm officially marking you down as a witch! 

Just getting to the prem should have us filling his pockets with rocks to see if he floats

[geordiekrispy]

A little sneak peak into how it's going in my first season of the Premier League.

I think this is the biggest non-national job I've been offered so far, but our next game was against them;

 

It's a shame as I think they've got that no old manager (which was still Pep) positivity and so they're playing well right now.

I think I've already gotten quite a few Premier League managers sacked when they have failed to beat us

[broodje kip]

That’s impressive mate! The form is outstanding too.

[geordiekrispy]

5 minutes ago, broodje kip said:

That’s impressive mate! The form is outstanding too.

Yeah I went back to an old tactic and it seems to be much better defensively, and I remembered that Jones' best season was the one in League 1 where I was introducing him at 60ish minutes as an impact sub, rather than him starting and getting shattered, like 70% conditioning at 60 mins.
The first game I remembered this he came on in the semi final 1st leg and scored a 12 minute hat-trick!

[broodje kip]

7 minutes ago, geordiekrispy said:

Yeah I went back to an old tactic and it seems to be much better defensively, and I remembered that Jones' best season was the one in League 1 where I was introducing him at 60ish minutes as an impact sub, rather than him starting and getting shattered, like 70% conditioning at 60 mins.
The first game I remembered this he came on in the semi final 1st leg and scored a 12 minute hat-trick!

That’s outstanding! Let’s hope you can get the 2nd leg win

[geordiekrispy]

14 minutes ago, broodje kip said:

That’s outstanding! Let’s hope you can get the 2nd leg win

Yeah fingers crossed. I don't know if I should change my tactics and go really defensive and try to squeak a win with a corner or something, or just play my normal style.

[DIRECTFX]

Ok what cheat code are you using bro ?? 
🤔😂😂

Just amazing job and I can’t believe you are competing with a VNS squad against Man City and rest of EPL .. Love the updates too with a ton of info not just one quick screenshot.
 

If you get time could you post the academy players you released to see where they are now ?? 

Keep it going think you guys could hop Leicester City with biggest odds to ever win it if you can pull it off 

[geordiekrispy]

1 minute ago, DIRECTFX said:

Ok what cheat code are you using bro ?? 
🤔😂😂

Just amazing job and I can’t believe you are competing with a VNS squad against Man City and rest of EPL .. Love the updates too with a ton of info not just one quick screenshot.
 

If you get time could you post the academy players you released to see where they are now ?? 

Keep it going think you guys could hop Leicester City with biggest odds to ever win it if you can pull it off 

Thanks, it's been hard the last few seasons. I get really frustrated when we get a late goal scored against us or the opposition just seems to run riot over us from the off.

Sometimes we manage to get some goals back and get a nice high score draw. I think we've become kings of the score draw, the pools coupons would be going mental at us! (One for the old gadgers there!)

It just goes to show that tactics are king, yes having the best players in the world help, but you can do well with average or below average players too. I'm expecting us to get relegated at least once in the next few seasons as the next wave of older players drop off in attributes and retire. I've had a few "X player is past it" messages this season for key players, but the team seem to be happy with a "They're a useful part of the squad" or whatever it is.

Yeah I am still working through the gifs of the first 5 years of the squad, but in the same post I might do a "Where are they now?" for the academy players. I kind of wish I'd taken screenshots for them each season too, but that would be way too much effort

[HudsonOfSmeg]

Absolutely amazing work on this, can't wait to see how you get on in the prem! I reckoned you'd be able to get to around mid-table in League 1, but to make it to the Prem is truly impressive. As you said, the right tactics and player relationships are just as important as having the right players. 

Certainly an interesting challenge - though if i'd do it myself i'd probably have to tweak it so I could keep the academy players to replace the retirees 

[geordiekrispy]

End of Season 6 Review

Wow! What a crazy season that was. I have to admit I kind of didn’t want to play that second leg of the Carabao Cup… Our games against Man City seem to be perfect for the neutral, generally a score draw and end to end stuff!

 

The Squad

Goalkeepers

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Defence

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Midfield

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Attackers

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Overall Training Attributes

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  GK

 

Mental

Physical

Technical

 

The Best XI - TBC

Current and Potential Ratings

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First Team

Reserves

Transfers

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Academy Players Released

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Awards

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The players didn’t get any awards this year, I think they only managed to get into the team of the week once or twice all season. But I managed to nab coach of the season, mainly due to keeping us up I think.

Retiree(s)

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 No retirees this season, I managed  to get everyone extended a minimum of 3 years so there’ll be a “mass” exodus just before the end of the challenge of Duckworth, Bunn and Cassidy and Jamerson, maybe Kennedy and Wright too.

Player Stats

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Manager Profile & History

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Job Offers

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Leagues & Cups

League

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FA Cup

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Carabao Cup

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End of Season Review

After the second leg defeat we had a bit of a wobble after that, I think it got into the heads of the players which is a shame, Guilfoyle was up as second highest scorer at that point, but hardly found the net afterwards. But Jones hadn’t scored all season until that Carabao Cup first leg and he ended up with 12 goals, so it’s not all bad.

The board confidence updates each month were a bit stressful too as I had the “current run of awful results is a concern” message a few times during the season, mainly because we just weren’t winning. We have apparently become the draw specialists, either snatching a late goal or conceding later on.

I was getting annoyed that we weren’t able to win against teams that were in the relegation zone, but I suppose they were playing for their survival where as we were playing for mid-table.

In the last few games of the season I noticed that somehow a European place was up for grabs! On the last game of the season, if Everton had lost and we’d won I think we could have gotten joint 7^th, but lost out due to our worse goal difference. I like the fact that we were so tight at the back, but wish we’d been able to score more.

There were a few times I got messages about Duckworth and Bunn being past it. I think I also had a message about Jones struggling for fitness too, which he does but I’m not sure how to fix as his conditioning seems to be right every game and he’s not tired. He just runs out of energy after 60 minutes. Like I said I tried using him as an impact sub like he was doing the last few seasons but it just didn’t work. Potts seemed to be able to come on and nab a goal.
I really want them to get just a little bit faster or even get my midfield to be able to spot that killer pass, but I think everyone is fully maxed out now. The only players who are getting improvements after a game or the older players who are declining and the games are bringing them up a little bit. But worryingly Bunn had a groin injury at the end of the season and during the off-season he came back and I got the dreaded “not as good” message.

I was hoping to get another season of battle against relegation, but my board seem to have gotten ahead of themselves and want mid-table as a minimum. A victim of my own success I guess.

 

In terms of tactics, I tried a 3x CDs and it seemed to be ok, but just not good enough going forward. So I reverted back to my 4-1-2-1-2 narrow diamond. Which did  ok . But then towards the end of the season it was struggling again so I dug out my W-M tactic from the Vibe World Cup for the last few games as I felt I needed more oomph up front, I tried the 2x IF and a TM and it did ok, but then the players weren’t playing well as they’re all central strikers apart from Potts. So I ended up using this:

  

 

Which seemed to work, I also went hoof-ball and was playing direct or long balls with through balls turned on too.
But with the lack of AMCs I feel I might have to end up using CMs. I can’t decide if it was better with just one CD or not… I’ll have to have a play around in the friendlies in the build up to next season. But I definitely need to have FBs not WBs, they just aren’t good enough going forward to warrant them and I need the defensive cover. But I’m not sure if having 2x DMCs is hampering me especially Tinker wants to play as a BWM and only Wright can play as a DLP…
We’ll see how that goes… But I feel like there’s no creative outlet, not that I’ve got any creative players…

Edited August 18, 2021 by geordiekrispy