Career Stu's Steady Ascent - its a long way back to the top again

[MikeF]

Great job hanging in there. Good luck with the next season. 

[StuartM]

Thanks @Titjes

After thinking I had finally stopped tinkering with my tactic, I had yet another slow start and so had another transition season! 🤔

I made another tactical u turn and managed to turn things round a bit earlier than the last season.

My squad has steadily improved year on year so I really should be challenging for promotion by now. Will this be the year?

Not a million miles out at the mid-point (don't look at our goals scored...)

These last couple of seasons have been very frustrating, my team seems to be very easy to score against on the counter...

We finally had a bit of a cup run but didn't get any luck in the quarter final.

In the league, we left too much on the table early on and couldn't find the consistency needed to reach the playoffs but I think we made some positive steps and fingers crossed for a more interesting season next year!

Thanks for reading the latest installment of the Championship saga!

[Rich]

Well done on turning things around Stu, sign of a top manager 😉Good luck next season!

[StuartM]

I'd actually got a season ahead and I have another to write up now. I'm hoping I've learned something from my last few years in the Championship. Lets see if I did...

I've kind of slowed goalscoring both for and against and should be doing better but I think I conceded something like 9 goals from the 1st 11 shots on target which was quite annoying! I considered that we had a slow start but the press thought otherwise.

At the turn of the year, we were in touch with the playoffs but not setting the world alight.

The board seemed happy with our progress even if I expected a bit more so I invested in baldy here!

We did make it to the playoffs in a fairly steady fashion.

Birmingham awaited, who did the double over us in the league. We edged the first leg...

But had a horrid few minutes to throw it away in the 2nd leg...

Still, we fared a little better than the north east giants 🙄

So, another season in the Championship. At least it was a step forwards... I think I'll try and be a bit more expansive next year, capitalise on our possession, score more goals and not concede any more...

A nice bit of recognition followed, though I'm not sure it was deserved!

Thanks for taking a look

[Rich]

I’m sure next year will be your year Stu! Unlucky not to go up.

What in the flying hell happened to Newcastle though? Where is the money? 😂

[Mr Tree]

8 hours ago, Rich said:

I’m sure next year will be your year Stu! Unlucky not to go up.

What in the flying hell happened to Newcastle though? Where is the money? 😂

Just the game being ultra-realistic, i thought

[Rich]

1 hour ago, Mr Tree said:

Just the game being ultra-realistic, i thought

To be fair if any club could do that it is Newcastle, I agree 😂

[StuartM]

I'm back with a double season update!

I had high hopes for this season, looking more like contenders from the off.

But we weren't consistent enough and despite a few tweaks, never managed to get things to click.

Defence was decent enough but we were light on goals and it was only just enough to see us in to the playoffs.

We faced West Yorkshire giants Huddersfield and a sticky first leg put us under pressure for the second.

But a decent performance put us through to the final.

Sadly, we didn't quite show enough though and so its yet another season in the second tier.

Positive that we had a promotion challenge but I'm definitely ready to take this on a bit now.

Toon update, the Geordies finally bounced in the Vanamara National League and I had a quick look to see who was still there!

[StuartM]

So on to next one...

I was cautiously optimistic of a good one this time around but we had a slow start and so I found myself changing tactics again!

I went more attacking and we started to pick up. I thought things were starting to click. Still in touch at the halfway stage.

But we struggled for consistency (again) and landed in the playoffs (again).

This time it was West Yorkshire minnows Leeds United with former Boston wonderkid Beeson proving a pain!

Difficult return leg but we did alright, taking things to pens where we had one to win it...

... but didn't take it!

Well at least this guy is 'happy'... and I think the Toon managed to get b2b promotions to get back into L1 too.

I've already decided to change things up for the next season, spending all my cash and changing shape before the season starts but I might leave this one for now and try something new.

Thanks for staying tuned, I hope I can offer a better update next time!

[Rich]

Unlucky not to get promotion in them seasons Stu, I’m sure with a change in shape you’ll crack it. Nice to see Newcastle on the up though 😂

[StuartM]

Thanks @Rich.

Off the back of the Salah badge I was optimistic that I was going to be able to push on this year by getting more goals from set pieces. I didn't end up changing formation by as much as I was threatening to.

Early signs were good! We were in the promotion race at last, though not quite killing it.

I tweaked my forward's role and something clicked, finally starting to get the results my squad should be doing - having steadily built it up over 7 years in the Championship!

Spoiler

These always amuse me... wow £60k!

So with 10 games to go, it was quite close...

... and the games against Leeds and Palace were too:

Meaning it remained close into the last 5.

Our form remained pretty strong and so finally...

Seeing it through for 1st place too, though a draw in the dead rubber game cost us the chance of a 100 point season.

After refusing my stadium expansion requests (but approving a few facilities ones), we got a new one!

And here's my profile (in 2033!).

I'm honestly not looking to goad anyone but I have been keeping an eye on Newcastle since the dropped out of the Championship, look away now if you are of a sensitive disposition! I reckon I might go and sort them out once (if?) I finish this challenge.

Spoiler

Firstly, they lost the manager to Morecambe!

And then got relegated to L2 again.

With no money and ropey facilities now too. I took a closer look, this guy would be my 6th best paid player in the PL!

And I think he might be part of the problem on the pitch too, maybe a Maccum plant!

Thanks for taking a look!

[Rich]

Well done Stu, great season and now the big league, good luck 🤞🏻
 

So nice to see Newcastle doing so well still 😂😂

[StuartM]

Cheers again @Rich

So on to the Premier League, I didn't actually do much transfer business in the summer other than trimming some of the fringe players after expanding the squad the previous summer. Most options in the market were expensive and/or not better than what I had so I held on until January.

We had a positive start:

And progressed nicely through the League Cup:

And we were sitting very well at the mid-point:

Unfortunately, we just came up short in the League Cup final and then Man Utd were again our nemesis in the FA Cup:

We were then able to concentrate on the league, where we continued to sit pretty well. We couldn't, could we?

We came out on top in a 6 pointer against Chelsea, lost out to Man Utd (who beat us 4 times over the season 😡) and had a couple of 3-3 draws leaving things in the balance:

A home match against Hull in game 37 should edge us closer to a dream debut season...

What a time to be FMM'ed 😡😭!

So it was out of our hands going into the last game, which we drew anyway 😤.

A pretty good season but could have been even better.

A bit of recognition for this as a breakthrough year.

For some of the players too (5 of these 6 were in my Championship team!):

My South American bargain wonderkid inside forwards got some plaudits too.

Thanks for taking a look, now on to Europe and hopefully the latter stages of this challenge!

[Rich]

Ohh how unlucky that is, being FMM’d to the max Stu, good luck next season 🤞🏻

[Dai_]

Wow. An incredible season. Actually gutted you didn't go on to win it.

[StuartM]

Thanks @Rich and @Dai_, after the seasons I had in the Championship, it didn't really niggle too badly but it might if we didn't kick on...

A first season in Europe got off to a flying start!

Yes, they did have a goalie and he didn't actually look that bad!

We cruised through the group stages with Bayern and Barcelona not really seeming all that.

We were doing fairly in the league without really sparking. Games like this against title rivals didn't help.

But we were okay at the mid-point.

The Carabao Cup offered the first chance of major honours in this career again and this time we took it with both hands.

Poor David...

The league was looking good:

And then a bit less good:

We were still in the Champions League:

And then we weren't...

Still we had a good run in and we were doing what we needed to until we played Liverpool...

... with Brendan Beeson, former Boston youth product and playoff tormentor stepping up, meaning we fell short once again 😡.

The FA Cup final awaited and we despatched City to add a second trophy so it was a minor step forwards overall.

Look away now Newcastle fans...

Spoiler

Thanks for continuing to follow, I think we're getting there now!

[Dai_]

Surely the message can't be far away...

[Meow]

On 10/01/2022 at 18:47, StuartM said:

I'm honestly not looking to goad anyone but I have been keeping an eye on Newcastle since the dropped out of the Championship

Haha don't worry about it. I not only keep tabs, I deliberately raid relegated clubs and have on occasion crashed them into straight into League One, then momentum kept them plunging to League Two.

Reading the many seasons of you in the Championship was fascinating, as you would know I'm at the stage as well in my Salisbury save.

I do wish you had more screenshots of your transfers, I'm having a rough start and I'm considering my "solid first team, barely serviceable squad" transfer approach.

[StuartM]

Thanks @Dai_, I've actually finished the next season now, I'll try and update you later 🤞.

Thanks @Meow, let me take a look and see if I have some more screenshots... I haven't done many transfer ones for the later seasons as they are pretty much all regens.

I tend to only sign players 23 or under so they have a decent sell on value. I have made exceptions for free transfers >24 but not on this career I think. Up to the Championship I was only really doing free transfers, there just seemed to be so many available! In the Champ, there were fewer but I still managed 2 or 3 decent ones each summer.

Squad wise, I don't really do A and B teams which I think others do but I do try and have 2 good players for each position. I used to sub players on 60 mins to keep them fresh for the next game but the 6 ratings was getting a bit irritating so for the last 2/3 seasons I have only used subs for injuries then I'm constantly rotating the squad to pick a fit starting XI.

I hope this is useful!

[Meow]

@StuartM I'm good on the financial side, I made 31.5m profit this season and improved the squad.

As for squad building side, oh I wish I had either a A/B team or 2 good players for each position. It's more like I have 4-5 Premier League quality players, with the squad filled with lower Championship/upper League One players.

[StuartM]

That's a very tidy profit @Meow, was it in one window? For completeness on what I was doing, I also use my youth scouts quite rigidly. I did try and get the highest star ratings (2.5 stars or above) but keep an eye out for a good deal and potential to improve too.

[StuartM]

So, I'm back with a season 15 update. No, not a typo - fifteen! It really has been going that long.

Building on last season's silverware, we took the Community Shield.

Last season, we cruised through the group stages of the Champions League but this time around, we struggled to get results. Into the Euro Cup we went.

This time Bayern and Barca were much stiffer opposition. Meanwhile, the league season was going pretty well.

We needed penalties to see off Leeds in the Carabao Cup.

And then beat Palace more comfortably than the scoreline suggests to take a 2nd successive final.

Before I show you how the league season ended up, full disclosure. I changed my corner routines a couple of seasons ago (a few of you have commented on other threads) and at first didn't think much of it as my centre backs were getting ~10 goals per season but it became apparent last season it was working better and carried on this year.

Villegas supplied by Tulloch became a very regular feature with Villegas ending up with about 50 goals over 2 seasons and Tulloch with about 60 assists.

While we're on players, I showed Villa a year or two back... he joined me in the Championship and is now a very good player, held back only by his poor dynamics.

Sorry, back to the league now. We kept on pushing and it wasn't particularly close in the end after some dramatic finishes in recent years.

Spoiler

Champions!

We made it to the FA Cup final where we beat City to make this a pretty good year!

Cue an invite to a star studded gala!

It really is a long way to the top! 😂

We just had the Euro Cup final against Spurs, which would be a really nice way to cap things off...

Spoiler

Nope!

And the final manager profile.

Thanks for all the comments on this one, I came very close to bailing out more than once!

Edited January 24, 2022 by StuartM
Typos

[Dai_]

Awesome!! Massive congratulations. 

15 seasons is crazy! I didn't realise you'd been slogging away for so long.

[Meow]

4 hours ago, StuartM said:

was it in one window?

Yeah just this window coming up to the Championship. Total is £4.14m spent, £46.5m received.

Alright back on topic, congrats on winning the Europa League! The superstar status is the final point of this challenge right? Sad to see this end haha

Edited January 25, 2022 by Meow

[StuartM]

6 hours ago, Meow said:

Sad to see this end

Thanks mate, funny you should mention that... if anyone is interested I have an idea what to do with this one!

[Rich]

I’m building a statue for you as we speak in Boston Stu.

[Meow]

2 hours ago, StuartM said:

if anyone is interested I have an idea what to do with this one

Oh go ahead, I'm always a fan of long stories tangentially related to the career.

[Gonzolito]

Congratulations on seeing this through! Man, those Championship 6th rank series would have driven me crazy...

[StuartM]

Thanks guys...

... so what do you do when you've just spent 15 years getting from the Vanamara Northern League to the top and watching the worlds richest club* plummet?

Well, surely they would be interested in a superstar manager?

Yep and they must still have a colossal budget, right?

Nope!

But everyone would welcome me with open arms though?

Nope!

Then strangely because I don't think I unlocked anything...

And then just as strangely...

Quite possibly the most pitiful budget I've ever had!

If folks are interested, I'll post updates on this thread.

* no idea but it fits my 'narrative'!

[Meow]

3 hours ago, StuartM said:

If folks are interested, I'll post updates on this thread.

Great idea! Both to Newcastle and to move from the club you brought all the way to the Prem as well.

Keep close tabs on how Boston are doing, I'm fascinated