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

[Rich]

Only just seeing this Stu, would love to see you take the mighty toon all the way back up to the top mate, if anyone can, Stu Can.

[StuartM]

Thanks @Meow and @Rich

Here is my belated first season update and it will be a brief one as I neglected to take many screenshots 🙈.

I did my best to get rid of deadwood and the high wage earners, so along with 6 loanees with zero contribution... I just about managed to comply with the wage budget. Given it was a 46 game season, I also ended up promoting 5 greyed out players who were better than the freebies available.

We had a cracking start (you'll have to take my word for it) and we did quite well in the cups, reaching the 3rd round of the FA Cup with a 'giant killing' of Crawley which allowed me to strengthen slightly.

However, the second half of the season was a struggle with lots and lots of draws (again sorry, you'll have to take my word for it!). We then ended up in the playoffs after leading for much of the season and we crashed out... disaster! I was again unpopular.

But, we had a consolation - the FA Trophy final!

It might just have kept me in a job!

Meanwhile, Boston suffered a bit of a hangover and dropped out of the Champions League places to be replaced by Hull.

Thanks for taking a look

[Meow]

19 minutes ago, StuartM said:

We then ended up in the playoffs after leading for much of the season and we crashed out... disaster! I was again unpopular.

Digging the club out of a hole is way harder than just taking over a club at the beginning on a save. The expectations are always sky high too. First season getting playoffs is really good!

Check out what the AI did to your squad haha, whenever I move it always feels like someone came into my room are moved everything around 😂

[StuartM]

Thanks @Meow, definitely was a season of transition and put me in a better place... Speaking of, I've actually done the next season and having read your transfer guide I managed to fleece someone for £2.6M for my inside forward which helped my finances massively!

A couple of themes for this year...

I signed some of last years loanees on zero wages again then found that I could then be super cheeky in making the deals permanent. Rather than unattached players, I got my bargains this way.

Clubs were sniffing around me thinking they could tempt me to jump ship, not mid project I told them.

Spoiler

The league season was a bit of a cruise and a pleasant if slightly dull march to the title, just shy of 100 goals and with a fairly solid defence.

So entertainment came in the shape of the cups. We made it to the third round with an 'upset' to beat Eastleigh.

The next round was a more genuine upset, Fulham were flying high in the Championship.

In the next round, we came out on top in an end to end cup tie again against higher level opposition.

Again we saw off Championship contenders in the form of Cardiff but I have to say we were fortunate with this one...

This is my best FMM'ing, I can't recall anything approaching it to be honest!

On to the quarters... we rode our luck and got through on penalties! Could we dream?

So, a Vanamara North side makes it to the Semi-final of the FA Cup, where we faced Burton. Surely, we could do it but they have become an established Premier League team now...

No, it wasn't to be but we did have the FA Trophy final so the silverware keeps on flowing at St James'!

[Meow]

10 hours ago, StuartM said:

having read your transfer guide I managed to fleece someone for £2.6M for my inside forward which helped my finances massively!

Right? Gotta have those suckers fund your training facilities and wonderkid purchases.

I'm still thinking about how to structure a lot of squad building into guides. There's so many things that are too small to justify being in their own guide, but there's too many little things to just write a one massive post about "Squad Building".

It's impressive to make it into the FA Cup semi finals from the VNN though, even till the Championship I've still been getting knocked out before the quarter finals.

[StuartM]

Thanks @Meow, yeah squad building is a bit of an art. I try not to sign players that I don't expect to use but have some potential to grow more and like you (I think), I use the scout reports. I try and have current reports on a page of players for each position!

Anyway, I've done my next season. Here is how we got on...

I made a modest number of signings, converting some more loans into permanent signings, a few free transfers and some small fees where I couldn't resist a bargain. As a result, the squad was pretty strong for this level and we made a decent start.

No FA Cup run this time as we were despatched by Fleetwood.

We cruised to the title, Ebbsfleet were strong all year but we had already started to edge away by the midpoint and rarely faltered.

The only annoyance was that we dried up in the last few games and fell short of 100 goals!

Managed to get another unlockable, which I turned down as its just not necessary on this one.

And we also, kept our hands on the FA Trophy for a third year. Does that mean we get to keep it?

It seemed to be a silly year for job offers too and I even mistakenly hit accept on one and had to reload!

Spoiler

Thanks for taking a look!

[Meow]

That's a good season! Now back into the football league.

3 FA Trophies is impressive as well, I only got 1 during my ascent. Some extra money from the cups is always helpful.

[StuartM]

Thanks @Meow, I've just done the first season back in the league. Can we continue our league and cup success?!

I had a busy transfer window and splashed a bit of the cash that I'd made selling on players as well as collecting some bargain buys. The board weren't keen on upgrading facilities so I thought why not!

It was a steady start to the league season, we struggled for goals and had a few 1-0 defeats but we started to turn things around before I was tempted to tweak things.

I was fairly confident that we could hold automatic promotion but less sure that we'd catch Shrewsbury.

I also took a quick look back at the VNL and spotted another fallen giant in Norwich, maybe I will look to restore them when I'm finished here!

Meanwhile in the cups, we did very little in the League and FA Cup but progressed very nicely in the Papa Johns Trophy, which is one I didn't pick up with Boston. We made it to the final and I played my second string as the game came two days after a league match.

No problem, the reserves turned on the tap! Cheltenham were top of L1 too. The board overwhelmed me with their generosity again...

We kept pushing in the league and secured automatic in good time.

And as you can see, we'd overtaken Shrewsbury. It was another >100 point season which is nice but still <100 goals. I have another tactic that should do that now but won't use it on this career I think.

So, starting to see fewer gaps in my trophy cabinet now! Just League One and Vanamara South missing domestically...

And finally able to upgrade the training facilities too.

Career profile is fairly stable now but I want more than 2 GPG for and less than 1 GPG against to satisfy my OCD!

My old club are still doing the business in the Premier League but I think this was their first trophy since I left!

I'll quickly feature some of the signings I made, probably a bit of overkill for L2!

Played as an inside forward, pace and set pieces were where his goal contributions came from. Very consistent and that is by far my best AvR, though I've just given him a big new contract to keep him which has turned down all his non-playing attributes.

Also signed for big money, he's still improving nicely. Not quite the same ratings but probably because I keep playing him in different positions.

Thanks for taking a look!

[Meow]

4 hours ago, StuartM said:

My old club are still doing the business in the Premier League but I think this was their first trophy since I left!

That's always nice to see, usually the clubs I leave tend to have issues. The AI are just bad at handling squads, especially goalkeepers.

Any old players you are attached to you could bring to Newcastle for the good ol' times?

[StuartM]

Cheers @Meow, I'm not sure I can afford anyone worth having! I did see that one of my latest signings for Boston just made it into the World XI... he was signed as a prospect and backup so that was kind of nice to see.

[StuartM]

Hi folks, I'm still edging this one forwards so I have a double season update for you.

2040/41 L1: Rinse and Repeat?

Plenty of player turnover in the summer as I have grown accustomed to, I don't try too hard to keep players if they don't want a new contract. This didn't distrurb things too much as we managed to get into a good position by halfway.

We had won 4 cups in the last 4 years but this time we got FMM'ed by Fleetwood in the Papa John's!

As gutted as we all were, it didn't derail our league campaign and we reined in Crewe in good time.

Bit of a strange game here...

A 4-0 win with two shots on target and no own goals? Not going to complain!

Anyway, we saw out the league season... Would we manage 100 goals this time?

We did seal the title adding L1 to the trophy cabinet...

But we fell short of 100 league goals again!

I thought I might show one of my player histories... Stokes came in as a loanee in the VNN and then I saw the opportunity to make a bit of money with him.

2041/42 Championship: Will history repeat?

I kind of got stuck in the Championship, the last time up the leagues... I'm hoping we'll make lighter work this time.

Another busy window in the summer meant that I let a lot go but I struggled to bring in permanent signings of the right quality so I hit the loan market quite hard.

After a sticky start, we climbed to midtable and we dreamed of a playoff push and to get above the Mackems and stay above Boro for the bragging rights.

Sort of in play with 10 to go but we hadn't put a consistent run together thus far.

We finally won a derby game! Though not against Sunderland...

And we were tantalisingly close with 3 to go.

Then subsequently lost a 6 pointer against Bolton and missed out.

Bit of a downer after several seasons of success but hey ho, we go again next time!

We did get a bit of recognition, though it seems generous for a 9th place finish!

Thanks for taking a look!

[StuartM]

2042/43 Championship: Hey, where'd the defence go?

I do like the Championship but I don't want to be stuck here! Could we push through on our second season?

Some worrying noises after a positive start...

Things were looking good at halfway...

But we wobbled...

And fell away from the automatic places...

But finished strongly to give some hope in the playoffs...

We faced Wolves, who snuck in at the last moment. You can't win a playoff tie in the first leg but you can certainly lose one 😡.

4-0 after 16 mins! That might be a new personal record, we did fight back and 6-3 gave us a slither of hope...

We nearly did it and nearly didn't in normal time and so penalties...

We didn't make it of course so Championship again next time around.

We had some strong performances but it will be a struggle to keep some of the lads.

Thanks for taking a look!

[StuartM]

2043/44 Championship: Groundhog day all over again?

So, it was a summer of rebuilding as some of last year's stars sought pastures new and the start to the season was not what the doctor ordered. I was hoping to blast through this season...

We did gradually improve through the year but last year's goalscoring rate was absent...

And we did edge into the automatic places late on...

Relief was the overriding feeling! A better defence was probably key to this.

And another clean sweep of the awards, with different players!

On to the Premier League, thanks for stopping by!

[StuartM]

2044/45 Premier League: Back in Toon

Strangely on this year's game I haven't found the step into the top tier as much of a challenge as the one into the second tier... have I just cursed myself though?!

I was fairly happy with my transfer business but we didn't start well...

We had 3 points from our first 7 games!

But the performances were not too bad, with this being an extreme case but a bit of an example...

And we rebounded by mid-season...

To bring Champions League football back to the North East!

As you can see my old club Boston still reaping the benefits from my fine work many years ago!

Still time to get back to Superstar manager status and see if I can add the Vanamara South to my trophy cabinet!

 

[StuartM]

2045/2046 Premier League: Time for new history to be made?

After a decent first season back in the big time, we wanted to push on quickly and start landing some titles so we invested what we could afford in the playing squad and also managed to get the facilities up to scratch too.

We had a good start but some in the squad didn't like my expectations, nevertheless we managed to stay on course at halfway.

We flew through the group stages of the Champions League but met an in form Barcelona who despatched us on their way to the final only to be upstaged by my former team Boston who are still doing the business... I must have done a good job there!

We messed up the League Cup final but kept going strong in the League to win Newcastle's first title since 1927 (almost as long ago as Huddersfield!) then we added the FA Cup to double up.

Happy days! The Bigg Market was buzzing and my manager profile hit Continental status too so another step closer to hitting my targets for this one.

Thanks for taking a look, I hope to be back with another update soon.

[StuartM]

2046/2047 Premier League: Chapter Complete?

So we've managed to take Newcastle back to the top table and add a League Championship to the trophy cabinet. All there is to do now is get that World Class status back.

We had loads of money to spend and I resisted for the most part as we had a pretty good squad and of my starting XI, 3 are academy products.

We started off okay but the press were on our backs, trying to put us under pressure whilst we were sitting in 2nd.

We did have a horrible run though as we cocked up the Champions League group stage and headed for the Euro Cup.

At halfway, we had lost too many games but still in touch and starting to click again.

We got FMM'ed in the League Cup final but went on a good run after it to secure a second successive title in good time.

There were plenty of goals in the team this year and we steamrollered our Euro Cup opponents for the most part and avoided being FMM'ed in another final for the FA Cup giving us a treble!

All this added to my reputation and we made it back up to World Class level.

So, on to the next chapter and the last 4 seasons of this career but before then this guy might be one of my favourite signings as he is just getting good and it would be a shame to say goodbye to him...

Thanks for taking a look

[Meow]

That's one sad part about long term saves, the lads you'll never see the end of their careers.

I lose interest in most saves nearer to the end, once I stop looking for regens to love if I'll never see them finish their careers.

Really nice to see Boston shining still!

[hhooo]

That was a trip! I wish ownership changes were more common in game to help shake things up, as appears to have happened here!

[StuartM]

So, what do you do when you have started at the bottom, made to the top, gone back to the bottom and made it to the top again?

That's right, you go back to the bottom of course!

Given that I've managed to win all domestic trophies other than the Vanamara South, lets head there and fill out the bucket list then see how many more promotions I can get before the 30 season limit.

There were no open jobs and no insecure ones when I first looked so I had to wait... then the cracks seemed to be appearing at Maidenhead United.

Off the back of a tough season.

Fairly standard setup for this level.

So why not?!

The playing squad is not in bad shape so I'm hopeful of winning the league at the first attempt... famous last words perhaps?!

I recognised this guy's name then realised he was one of the greyed players I promoted in the tough times in my first season at Newcastle. Small world eh.

[Meow]

10 hours ago, StuartM said:

recognised this guy's name then realised he was one of the greyed players I promoted in the tough times in my first season at Newcastle. Small world eh.

That's lovely, y'all both get to see the twilight years of your career out together.

Would be sad to see this career end, but it has honestly been a joy to read

[MatiasDFS]

Just read all of this, amazing career! hope you get the south title

[StuartM]

13 hours ago, Meow said:

That's lovely, y'all both get to see the twilight years of your career out together.

Would be sad to see this career end, but it has honestly been a joy to read

 

38 minutes ago, MatiasDFS said:

Just read all of this, amazing career! hope you get the south title

 

On 26/05/2022 at 05:10, hhooo said:

That was a trip! I wish ownership changes were more common in game to help shake things up, as appears to have happened here!

Thanks folks! I hope the next installment is worth a read too.

[StuartM]

2047/2048 Vanamara South: Complete the Set?

Welcome back, could we make room in the cabinet for a new trophy at the first time of asking?

The squad was decent enough so I just made a handful of additions and then a few replacements when the 'big' boys came in for some of the 1st teamers. This gave me more funds than I needed to spend and so I managed to boost the facilities and youth to good/good which is quite decent for the basement division!

We started off okay...

Keeping in touch with Hitchen at the top...

Who suddenly fell off a cliff! We were in touch at halfway and I thought it was shaping up for a challenging title race...

And so it proved in January with us dropping back from Boreham Wood at the top.

But we came back strongly in February...

And made a gap through March...

We then made a mess of the 6 pointer...

No worries though, we still had a gap...

But we binned the next game 😬

Before we woke up again to wrap things up!

Meanwhile, we were also still competing in the FA Trophy which I won 3 times in a row with Newcastle... could we make it 4?

We sure could and then at the end of the season, we had a fairly good youth intake with our overpowered facilities! Maybe one or two can get a game before the end of this career.

Thanks for taking a look!

[Arzii94]

Can you show us some fallen giants 😀 i see arsenal in championship. Love it.

[Meow]

Nice! That's the full set! Congrats

Time to enjoy your twilight years knowing you've done everything. 

[hhooo]

53 minutes ago, Meow said:

Nice! That's the full set! Congrats

Time to enjoy your twilight years knowing you've done everything. 

Agreed Stu it's time to fill us in on your retirement plans

[StuartM]

Thanks folks!

11 hours ago, Arzii94 said:

Can you show us some fallen giants 😀 i see arsenal in championship. Love it.

Norwich and Portsmouth are the biggest fallers that I have spotted. Arsenal have managed to climb back into the Premier League now though, sorry!

 

5 hours ago, hhooo said:

Agreed Stu it's time to fill us in on your retirement plans

Well, my back is stuffed from all those late night motorway scouting mission drives through the years... My time in Newcastle introduced me to fishing, following in the footsteps of Gazza and Jack Charlton so that plus a bit of TV punditry as Michael Owen's replacement should get me by!

I've kind of got a European Trophy Hunter career that I haven't got into yet... I did this on FMM21 though didn't write it up 🤦‍♂️. Alternatively, I might try a 'goal a mile' challenge but before I do, I might try and right the playoff final wrongs for a season or two 😂

[StuartM]

Right then, having never seen a career through to the end of the 30 season limit I thought I would chip away at this.

I wanted to maximise my trophy and promotion count and although there isn't a Neil Warnock challenge seemingly, I thought I might be posting a decent tally.

2048/2049 Vanamara National

So we relinquished our hold on the FA Trophy this season, it had been a happy distraction for us but 5 in a row was not to be.

Mid season had us in a decent position and looking to challenge.

And we were still looking strong for the run in.

But Exeter were flying and had the points in the bag going in to the last few.

We were in with a chance of nicking it in the last game and did we have another Aguero moment in this career...

Er, no - sadly not! Exeter managed to take 57 points in the 2nd half of the season, fair play!

We did hold our nerve in the playoffs though so another promotion was secured.

Back in the real world, I thought I had left my phone at home one day only to learn that it had dropped out of my pocket and I proceeded to drive over it... would that be the end of this career - stuck on 28 seasons again..? de, de, der! (think suspenseful music from the end of the 60s Batman TV series)

 

Edited August 7, 2022 by StuartM

[StuartM]

So I'm sure you've all been gripped suspense waiting to learn whether this save was literally obliterated by a car... fortunately it wasn't and so with a (rather expensive) screen replacement we picked up where we left off!

2049/50 League Two - again, again

Anyone ever get this, sign a player as backup with a view to integrating over the course of the season and literally after 3 games?

Kind of irritating but I did put him in his place and ended up using him eventually.

Anyway, we started strongly and so I thought it would be business as usual.

But we then went on a shocker of a run, not actually playing badly, losing narrowly all the time and not with any dynamics or unhappiness issues. Really odd!

I reverted to an earlier tactic, the one that got me my PL success with Boston (remember them?) and things started to turn around.

Off the pace at halfway though.

But slowly crawling back into contention.

With a genuine outclassing of PL Arsenal.

And a good run in to secure automatic but no 1st place again.

I did manage to get to 3k goals... as a manager... after 29 seasons! 😂

[Superking]

Congratulations on ur 3k goals 👏