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Career It’s a Long Way to the Top *Completed* - Spennymoor


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I thought I’d start FMM23 at the bottom of the ladder with the a Long Way to the Top Challenge.

In this challenge Matthew, I’ll be playing Ryan Mason who holds the record for being the youngest premier league manager ever (Spurs - 2021, aged 29). As fate would have it I’ve plucked him from Premier League history and plugged him into Vanarama obscurity.


This will be a warts and all challenge as I’ve done no testing, and I will embrace the bugs and missteps with the grace of a washed-up manager shaking his fist at the world in silent fury. (I say silent as otherwise I’ll get told off for yelling at my phone.) 

My only hope is to make the leaderboard one day as a Superstar 🤩 (before the game rejects me after 30 seasons).

Unemployed 

Walking the length of the UK from one training pitch to the next: 

01FA8DFA-9B2A-4BBA-894C-1062E33948AA.thumb.png.7b1c730f303861c9f20af5aaed1040b7.png
 

(I have no idea how I’ve already been unemployed for 181 days but I guess it makes me an expert at being jobless.)

Job Centre

Already there are clubs who are rudderless:

CD7D774B-6EFA-44CE-9C6B-31109A78BFCB.thumb.png.00e063bb3a3ce28f40d7db43adabb632.png

So, I sent my post-it note CV to Spennymoor in the hopes they are as desperate as me.

First Job

Luckily the hiring bod at Spennymoor is playing fast and loose with the club’s money and has given me the job:

6067D67C-6B84-4E41-AD94-713AAA4014F5.thumb.png.1c1389af4f80cb2ebea239913570936d.png
 

I guess scrawling “raw aptitude” on that post-it note paid off. I am a bit worried by their expectations of a playoff spot though. Also, they are already breaking their wage budget which is disappointing—I was hoping to do that myself..

Anyway I’d better go meet my players. I’ve been doing some research on management by watching all the Ted Lasso episodes so I’m feeling awesome. Now where did I put those biscuits?

17CBBE71-D331-434F-B154-0527F98EDCAF.png

Edited by DoneHisCruciate
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You already got the game? I wonder when it will be available in Nigeria. Anyway good luck with this. I'll be following and hopefully attempting this too when I get the game. 

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Yeah, it popped up this morning. Might be because I’m in NZ and we hit Nov 8th first. Or maybe it’s just random country mischief when it gets released. Hopefully you’ll get it soon 👍

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 Doing this first too.

I'll be aiming for a club further up the ladder from the start though.

Best of luck, Sir. I look forward to following your progress. 👍

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Well, I spent far too much time playing yesterday. On the plus side my “Value for money” stat is making me feel the purchase was a great decision 😂

Season 1 (2022/23)

The first season felt like three seasons in one.

First the game started off as a prickly porcupine as I abused the loan system to the fullest and figured out which players I could trust. The team finished this period sitting somewhere around 9th.

Spoiler

7BAD5D03-2C93-4C17-9C8A-C9B622483C14.thumb.png.17d5b9ce254dcc0b67281740a69b6bab.png

Once I got to grips with my squad (whilst enjoying the lack of VAR reviews—it makes lower league management so appealing..) the game started to purr like a cat. Spennymoor were sitting top of the table with a cushion of around 9 points.

Spoiler

DA437D24-EDE6-4867-8B26-B24F84D262CC.thumb.png.8ac8d057f9fa21cedc661d56a44b5aed.png

Then the cat morphed into a double headed dragon that was trying to rip my head off. In the space of 7 games the team gave away 2 pens and had 3 players sent off. This was in a period of 12 games where we won 2, drew 3, and lost 7. Ugly stuff!

Spoiler

11912D57-8AD2-40DD-937B-E1DD0AAD3CEF.thumb.png.e52c237aa5ac450611646626819dfd35.png

I think this is what I get for not being able to employ a tea lady to keep the lads in line! 

So points cushion erased, fans booing us off the pitch and back in a battle for the title. A real nail biter as the number of players I could trust dwindled and I hung on for the ride. 
 

Luckily the other teams were also on a rollercoaster of a finish too and it came down to us needing at least a draw on final day to become:

2A452965-5378-4723-ACEF-51B70D3CEBCA.thumb.png.2ee256bf5cfa35d27562a49d736e429b.png

6F82D6B8-54DD-4A26-BECD-03C8C8981F2E.thumb.png.5437efe160ec9ce42ce28ad6f3bf4bbb.png

The Manager

I got my first coaching badge just in time for Christmas:

1A96A07E-4DAC-4B1D-9483-45F95FD5F0AF.thumb.png.396aa987933856044b7b8f5d26525f80.png
 

And I went from being “tolerated” to “respected”:


9C2AB545-3796-4B8C-A68D-7783617C698C.thumb.png.a0806f180c60adb9e104e1791fa14511.png

26DC2B1D-990D-4C3D-A8A1-A75AF3F79F95.thumb.png.82e42bf5bf80b6cf9cfd88ad93a2e6bd.png
 

Interestingly, the tenure length reset itself to zero when I got the coaching badge.

Also, being frugal with the clubs money is considered to be a bad thing 😁

For those eagle eyed viewers—Yes, I turned the team talks off after one game. (Sorry, Marc 🫣) So, my team talk style is silence I guess. 

FD7EC1B2-6388-450A-9741-2539C61580D5.thumb.png.7099eaef2e24c44d659c501ea5417199.png

And, at no point did I play 4-4-2. The system that I felt fit my guys best was a 4-1-2-1-2.

So, on to the next season..

53A6ED15-E52B-4F63-8690-63AE9C5F726D.thumb.png.be9ad5f02ceee7b27cbcc1873ac60026.png

Bravely battling relegation is my favourite kind of expectation!

Extra Time

Spoiler Alert: I got to find out who wins the world cup! 🤪

Spoiler

2254B1E4-6531-47D9-818F-A7E7DB126EF2.thumb.png.73ecc1998eef01c0894a97bac27e0f2c.png


 

Edited by DoneHisCruciate
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7 hours ago, Cockers2505 said:

Looking really good mate, what made me giggle was you said Ryan Mason was 29 years old in 2021, and now 2022 he is 53, wow that is some season 🤣

Good luck for Season 2 and beyond mate

Haha that never occurred to me. I guess 7 games in charge of spurs is enough to age anybody 😂

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Season 2 (2023/24)

I found some gems in the transfer market and a fair few promising youth players pre-season so I felt the team was in good shape this year.

And, so it proved. We spent most of the season in one of the top two positions. I think our lowest place was 4th.

Our main rivals for three-quarters of the season were Scunthorpe who were matching us point for point. I’m not sure what happened but while they were in 2nd place they sacked their manager and offered me the job 🤣

After that they dropped down the table and were replaced by Gateshead who were the form team in the last ten matches.

Unfortunately that coincided with us losing our best goalkeeper to a long-term injury. What’s worse is a number of players became inflicted with the dreaded “currently in below average form” 🤦‍♂️
 

So after a great season we were pipped at the post:

31AC34CC-2667-43F5-A9FB-20361DBEA194.thumb.png.c3f088d6bd5b82aec18bc609171b61b4.png
 

And, yes we tanked in the playoffs too. The first match we dominated but they scored first and we had to fight back to take it to pens:

67A23117-C85F-43F5-A131-5C65235807D1.thumb.png.34d2737d6515a9626c1c347d179f3764.png

In the playoff final we met old foes Scunthorpe who blew us away. Having that extra half-an-hour of football in the previous game probably cost us as well as the continuing average form 😩

835D33C3-FCB9-4291-A367-CF815A8C0623.thumb.png.52674f9976b816650d9d60689a9b7c60.png
 

and so on to another season:

D5F45C4D-5D77-4EB9-A14D-FB8E2C047FCC.thumb.png.7f5d09cc38191fc09442fc5caf907580.png

Luckily the board isn’t too ambitious!
 

The Manager

In October I gained silver status:

78911003-D3B1-4F91-8A3D-8D9C0999BAD9.thumb.png.0d4c07df9fcd663c13b967708c9b237f.png

And have advanced to “Well Repected” 🙃

807472D1-E289-4F2B-A710-AD95B7A17B8C.thumb.png.536b7565528bf79d85f3277402e59bda.png

EB02668D-D52D-4812-9C87-59E5B4202F66.thumb.png.6b4a1b009d98bb11deda2734b3a05329.png
 

I’ve also become a Transfer Guru but as yet I’m still unsure why I’m considered so unloyal?!

C89D5BB9-CAE1-4CEA-894D-E50C6F06238D.thumb.png.ae8226dd9f057faaa108f89eb4adec44.png

Extra Time:

The training facilities got upgraded half-a-star this season.

Also, I got offered 5 jobs—Rochdale, Cheltenham, Scunthorpe, Aldershot and York. 
 

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Season 3 (2024/25)

In pre-season it was particularly challenging to find quality players I could afford. Even the loan market was being unfriendly. Still, buoyed by last season’s second place I figured my youth players would come good.

Unfortunately we had a middling start and after 12 games were sitting 11th. I definitely had one of those “have I screwed up my squad moments?” 🙂

With a bit of a tweak to the tactics, things improved and I felt we would at least finish in the playoffs.

At this point my youth players staged a mini-revolution—they complained that they were too good for the club and the facilities were rubbish. They probably had a point but I cowered all but the ring leaders into submission. 😈

At this point I decided to cash in on the two most valuable and troublesome ones and raised 1.2m in transfer fees! A princely sum for a club like Spennymoor!

With the money I was able to upgrade the training and youth facilities to 2 and a half stars over the course of the season. Also, almost all of my staff became silver rated. Booyah!

(Incidentally the new board request screen is great. Being able to see when the next upgrade was available as an option was brilliant.)

So, enough of the waffling I hear you thinking. Where did you finish, DHC?

Spoiler

B38BB9DD-DC77-4A10-ABCE-EE8352523194.thumb.png.42174d99cacc408e391d1ac57903f44d.png


2FB5931B-1FDE-41FF-811A-316EECD71EFF.thumb.png.f382eb3466f7bd1df07e5aa8a1b1d0ba.png

Yep, with two games to go we won the league. This year we were the form team and overcame a stubborn Torquay.

Torquay suffered the fate we did and lost in the playoffs. Perhaps second place is cursed?! 🧙

And so, on to the next season:

Spoiler

183EDF7E-3DEE-44C7-BF62-CD340869BBE2.thumb.png.a91644fa04e281a6b3058d836ff3bc19.png

The Manager

In April I became gold plated in a really tasteful ceremony—you are put into this booth and get completely sprayed gold. Man, did I get some strange looks on the bus home.

33C5DB04-DD24-4731-82CE-960F2A014B67.thumb.png.193e1519999fe145185340d4d2fbc17c.png
 

I also became “revered” during the season so not getting promoted last year didn’t have a huge impact on my status:

Spoiler

E8E2015B-C768-4561-8368-3AE4EA3F277B.thumb.png.960e3c953efa97f2659940635c1f96f7.png
 

DAC3AC81-30A6-42B6-83E1-CA0DAA136A5C.thumb.png.a5205e5b0985c383020612da81106e11.png

2BE021A6-F962-4D72-99E4-FDC97DA21E17.thumb.png.295171ce6363d552f590fe58512a8baf.png

Extra Time

I’ve now been offered 15 jobs—Rochdale (x2), Cheltenham, Scunthorpe, Aldershot, York, Torquay, Crewe, Oldham, Sutton, Barrow, Gateshead, Notts. County, and Colchester.

 

Edited by DoneHisCruciate
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I’ve picked up a stinking cold so had a good excuse to push through another season 🤪

Season 4 (2025/26)

I always think of League Two as the friendliest league with it’s 3 automatic spots, 4 playoff spots and only 2 relegation places.

Still, I was a bit worried by the assessment of the squad by my coaches and our limited wage budget due to such a small stadium.

A frantic bit of loan action ensued before the transfer window slammed shut.

I felt we had a squad good enough to reach the playoffs but not a lot of depth.

I needn’t have worried though as there was little drama on the pitch. We stayed up in the top spots all season with a comfortable cushion to 4th place.

With three games to go we were promoted:

F962C880-5EE4-4E38-ADDC-0A210D0EF414.thumb.png.683528609fd5e4021beb1108f10e9644.png
 

The only question was the final position. We had a great one-on-one chance in the final game with about 10mins to go. It would have won us the league but my guy shot straight at the keeper 🤦‍♂️

So, second place was ours and onwards we march to League One to bravely battle relegation.
 

Off-Field Surprises

This season the best stuff to happen to the club happened off the field:

Spoiler


Bye Bye Striker!
One of our best strikers was refusing to sign a new deal and had a buyout clause of about 500k—not nearly what he was worth.

Inevitably he was snapped up by somebody in January. I hoped we would have enough in the bank to upgrade the stadium but the board said no! Booooo!

So I brought the training and youth facilities up to 3 stars each.

More Vultures Appeared

At the end of the season the vultures came along again and met the release clause of my best keeper and best right-back. So, another 2m in the bank.

Unexpected Windfall

Then out of the blue we had news that the player we sold for 900k last season had been sold again:

E20C5FFE-1398-4D1A-AB29-05201F27CF93.thumb.png.d240776c3e6306ede5f18cf46e63798b.png

8.5 million!!!

And yes, I did run straight to the board room for a stadium upgrade! 

FD98FCF3-636E-46B7-A0C6-43F50AA3C909.thumb.png.513323ad723ebf828d4ef361eb0b7946.png

And the facilities are now up to 4 stars.

Signing that player was the best thing I’ve ever done for the club 😂

Also, I was able to upgrade some staff to gold status and we still have around 8m in the bank. 🔥

5DD35670-F522-4B82-96AA-06FE8820AC6F.thumb.png.e56d46b67a7456b7c5b761c7df1f7aa6.png
 

So, the club is in a great state. And in League One we aren’t the minnows at all as far as stadium capacity goes.

I’ll try and keep a large amount in the bank for future upgrades.

 

The Manager

Nothing much to report. Still “Revered”:

Spoiler

57891D5B-875B-43AF-B89D-14530CAA4747.thumb.png.d86bdfc2be18efd440bc616accf5ac17.png

E4C2E3D0-6688-4B54-8C1E-DA73FACF3C9F.thumb.png.df2bb56846a8b2812399e77a94757cae.png

CB9336DD-9A11-426A-9397-B76E93009437.thumb.png.6a0dfd8d2d046a7285374699de6e46f7.png

Oh, I did become the “Special One”: 

Spoiler

F5815A3C-CFBA-4086-854B-5DFFBE176F06.thumb.png.cf066be479ff1c526c83e062e11537bd.png

2CD80B0C-07D8-48F7-B9D8-576A128501B5.thumb.png.4dfe4535dbcf5a64aa114b2bb7f46d97.png

Extra Time:

We scored our fastest goal ever at 39 seconds:

4A6DF6BB-0CEC-45CF-92A0-60298DE46253.thumb.png.0849f1f3ae7b0ec6113d6afb5c00829e.png

Surely a vibe record ?! Nope, @Jervon Esprit has already had one 12 seconds faster! Bloody Bernardo Silva 🙄😁 

I’ve now been offered 19 jobs—Rochdale (x2), Cheltenham, Scunthorpe (x2), Aldershot, York, Torquay, Crewe, Oldham, Sutton, Barrow, Gateshead, Notts. County, Colchester, Hartlepool, AFC Wimbledon, Newport Co, and Northampton. 

Edited by DoneHisCruciate
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Flying along there mate and a very astute sell on clause!

I'm loving the job offer count, keep that going. I can almost see you sauntering past desperate chairman wearing your sunglasses!

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Haha, that did make me think of Ron Atkinson when he was going through his spy phase:

FD717AF2-F425-40B6-B104-7695637F691B.jpeg.8a98734f0e4e4a99672a8fc8c0e35e76.jpeg

I think I’ll start doing the Roy Hodgson “you talking to me?” look for those chairman lurking in the carpark:

1F1C5842-893C-453B-BC01-984470776BEA.jpeg.174a8876f26c047d75eae375453340e3.jpeg

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I'm now imagining Big Ron on a covert scouting mission to Eastern Europe, quaffing Champagne Roger Moore style 😂

There's a career idea in there somewhere or at least a manager profile photo...

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What a sell-on! I had one big sale that let me revamp my whole squad season two as well. 

 

And yes, the loans are much tougher this year (doesn't seem to stop the AI teams from bringing in 25 players on loan though!)

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9 hours ago, DoneHisCruciate said:

I’ve picked up a stinking cold so had a good excuse to push through another season 🤪

Season 4 (2025/26)

I always think of League Two as the friendliest league with it’s 3 automatic spots, 4 playoff spots and only 2 relegation places.

Still, I was a bit worried by the assessment of the squad by my coaches and our limited wage budget due to such a small stadium.

A frantic bit of loan action ensued before the transfer window slammed shut.

I felt we had a squad good enough to reach the playoffs but not a lot of depth.

I needn’t have worried though as there was little drama on the pitch. We stayed up in the top spots all season with a comfortable cushion to 4th place.

With three games to go we were promoted:

F962C880-5EE4-4E38-ADDC-0A210D0EF414.thumb.png.683528609fd5e4021beb1108f10e9644.png
 

The only question was the final position. We had a great one-on-one chance in the final game with about 10mins to go. It would have won us the league but my guy shot straight at the keeper 🤦‍♂️

So, second place was ours and onwards we march to League One to bravely battle relegation.
 

Off-Field Surprises

This season the best stuff to happen to the club happened off the field:

  Hide contents


Bye Bye Striker!
One of our best strikers was refusing to sign a new deal and had a buyout clause of about 500k—not nearly what he was worth.

Inevitably he was snapped up by somebody in January. I hoped we would have enough in the bank to upgrade the stadium but the board said no! Booooo!

So I brought the training and youth facilities up to 3 stars each.

More Vultures Appeared

At the end of the season the vultures came along again and met the release clause of my best keeper and best right-back. So, another 2m in the bank.

Unexpected Windfall

Then out of the blue we had news that the player we sold for 900k last season had been sold again:

E20C5FFE-1398-4D1A-AB29-05201F27CF93.thumb.png.d240776c3e6306ede5f18cf46e63798b.png

8.5 million!!!

And yes, I did run straight to the board room for a stadium upgrade! 

FD98FCF3-636E-46B7-A0C6-43F50AA3C909.thumb.png.513323ad723ebf828d4ef361eb0b7946.png

And the facilities are now up to 4 stars.

Signing that player was the best thing I’ve ever done for the club 😂

Also, I was able to upgrade some staff to gold status and we still have around 8m in the bank. 🔥

5DD35670-F522-4B82-96AA-06FE8820AC6F.thumb.png.e56d46b67a7456b7c5b761c7df1f7aa6.png
 

So, the club is in a great state. And in League One we aren’t the minnows at all as far as stadium capacity goes.

I’ll try and keep a large amount in the bank for future upgrades.

 

The Manager

Nothing much to report. Still “Revered”:

  Hide contents

57891D5B-875B-43AF-B89D-14530CAA4747.thumb.png.d86bdfc2be18efd440bc616accf5ac17.png

E4C2E3D0-6688-4B54-8C1E-DA73FACF3C9F.thumb.png.df2bb56846a8b2812399e77a94757cae.png

CB9336DD-9A11-426A-9397-B76E93009437.thumb.png.6a0dfd8d2d046a7285374699de6e46f7.png

Oh, I did become the “Special One”: 

  Hide contents

F5815A3C-CFBA-4086-854B-5DFFBE176F06.thumb.png.cf066be479ff1c526c83e062e11537bd.png

2CD80B0C-07D8-48F7-B9D8-576A128501B5.thumb.png.4dfe4535dbcf5a64aa114b2bb7f46d97.png

Extra Time:

We scored our fastest goal ever at 39 seconds:

4A6DF6BB-0CEC-45CF-92A0-60298DE46253.thumb.png.0849f1f3ae7b0ec6113d6afb5c00829e.png

Surely a vibe record ?! Nope, @Jervon Esprit has already had one 12 seconds faster! Bloody Bernardo Silva 🙄😁 

I’ve now been offered 19 jobs—Rochdale (x2), Cheltenham, Scunthorpe (x2), Aldershot, York, Torquay, Crewe, Oldham, Sutton, Barrow, Gateshead, Notts. County, Colchester, Hartlepool, AFC Wimbledon, Newport Co, and Northampton. 

Oopsss my bad

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9 hours ago, DoneHisCruciate said:

I’ve picked up a stinking cold so had a good excuse to push through another season 🤪

Season 4 (2025/26)

I always think of League Two as the friendliest league with it’s 3 automatic spots, 4 playoff spots and only 2 relegation places.

Still, I was a bit worried by the assessment of the squad by my coaches and our limited wage budget due to such a small stadium.

A frantic bit of loan action ensued before the transfer window slammed shut.

I felt we had a squad good enough to reach the playoffs but not a lot of depth.

I needn’t have worried though as there was little drama on the pitch. We stayed up in the top spots all season with a comfortable cushion to 4th place.

With three games to go we were promoted:

F962C880-5EE4-4E38-ADDC-0A210D0EF414.thumb.png.683528609fd5e4021beb1108f10e9644.png
 

The only question was the final position. We had a great one-on-one chance in the final game with about 10mins to go. It would have won us the league but my guy shot straight at the keeper 🤦‍♂️

So, second place was ours and onwards we march to League One to bravely battle relegation.
 

Off-Field Surprises

This season the best stuff to happen to the club happened off the field:

  Hide contents


Bye Bye Striker!
One of our best strikers was refusing to sign a new deal and had a buyout clause of about 500k—not nearly what he was worth.

Inevitably he was snapped up by somebody in January. I hoped we would have enough in the bank to upgrade the stadium but the board said no! Booooo!

So I brought the training and youth facilities up to 3 stars each.

More Vultures Appeared

At the end of the season the vultures came along again and met the release clause of my best keeper and best right-back. So, another 2m in the bank.

Unexpected Windfall

Then out of the blue we had news that the player we sold for 900k last season had been sold again:

E20C5FFE-1398-4D1A-AB29-05201F27CF93.thumb.png.d240776c3e6306ede5f18cf46e63798b.png

8.5 million!!!

And yes, I did run straight to the board room for a stadium upgrade! 

FD98FCF3-636E-46B7-A0C6-43F50AA3C909.thumb.png.513323ad723ebf828d4ef361eb0b7946.png

And the facilities are now up to 4 stars.

Signing that player was the best thing I’ve ever done for the club 😂

Also, I was able to upgrade some staff to gold status and we still have around 8m in the bank. 🔥

5DD35670-F522-4B82-96AA-06FE8820AC6F.thumb.png.e56d46b67a7456b7c5b761c7df1f7aa6.png
 

So, the club is in a great state. And in League One we aren’t the minnows at all as far as stadium capacity goes.

I’ll try and keep a large amount in the bank for future upgrades.

 

The Manager

Nothing much to report. Still “Revered”:

  Hide contents

57891D5B-875B-43AF-B89D-14530CAA4747.thumb.png.d86bdfc2be18efd440bc616accf5ac17.png

E4C2E3D0-6688-4B54-8C1E-DA73FACF3C9F.thumb.png.df2bb56846a8b2812399e77a94757cae.png

CB9336DD-9A11-426A-9397-B76E93009437.thumb.png.6a0dfd8d2d046a7285374699de6e46f7.png

Oh, I did become the “Special One”: 

  Hide contents

F5815A3C-CFBA-4086-854B-5DFFBE176F06.thumb.png.cf066be479ff1c526c83e062e11537bd.png

2CD80B0C-07D8-48F7-B9D8-576A128501B5.thumb.png.4dfe4535dbcf5a64aa114b2bb7f46d97.png

Extra Time:

We scored our fastest goal ever at 39 seconds:

4A6DF6BB-0CEC-45CF-92A0-60298DE46253.thumb.png.0849f1f3ae7b0ec6113d6afb5c00829e.png

Surely a vibe record ?! Nope, @Jervon Esprit has already had one 12 seconds faster! Bloody Bernardo Silva 🙄😁 

I’ve now been offered 19 jobs—Rochdale (x2), Cheltenham, Scunthorpe (x2), Aldershot, York, Torquay, Crewe, Oldham, Sutton, Barrow, Gateshead, Notts. County, Colchester, Hartlepool, AFC Wimbledon, Newport Co, and Northampton. 

Oopsss my bad 

Loving this series btw 

I'm still struggling to create a decent tactic atm

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Season 5 (2026/27)

Last season I’d relied heavily on loans which meant the squad’s quality for League One was a bit mediocre. I had to triple the wage budget just to be able to pay the kinds of wages players were expecting!

I did manage to get some good players in and wipe all the release clauses for my young players. I figured we’d be good for the playoffs.

And we started strongly—unbeaten in the first 12 games. We were still bouncing around the top three spots in January so decided to cash in on a young star centre-back for 8m.

That money got me some proper depth in the squad which I ended up really needing as the fixtures piled up. We had a couple of cup replays that made the schedule bonkers.

With 2 games to go we got promoted and eventually crowned:

AB3B7332-FEB2-45DC-B641-A2E1DAFD7850.thumb.png.99c41dc54cd3bccfc746a8846abf20b0.png

Over the course of the season I upgraded the youth facilities so that they are now 5 stars! The youth intake looked great this year so looking forward to next season’s crop:

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I do need to do a bit more mentoring. I’ve had a few chuckys come through the ranks that probably should of had a guiding hand sooner.

89368902-1F70-423C-A4F3-5427B1F13335.jpeg.24d9ce9469a4025bfd70f8c0d1ac1e55.jpeg
 

Interestingly the board refused to upgrade the training facilities from 4 stars—even with 10m in the bank. Not sure if it’s too expensive or if there’s a chance component to the board request 🤷‍♂️

Oh, and also unlocked the “Owe you one” board request and spent it on another stadium upgrade. Still keeps us at the bottom of the ranks for the Championship:

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The Manager

Nothing much of note here apart from not progressing any coaching stats at all 🤣:

Spoiler

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Extra Time:

Flynn Clarke channelled some inner Haaland and produced this performance. It’s completely out of character for him and our team 😂:

3FD283AE-DBC4-4276-B682-D4EE483EB407.thumb.png.caedf27ff56eb874c5494b0699c2583e.png

I was offered no jobs this season! I guess the sunglasses put the other chairman off 😎

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Season 6 (2027/28)

Well, if write-ups came with a rating like movies this would classify as an R18+—extremely detrimental to managers everywhere.

Pre-season transfer business was a nightmare. I had money to burn but nobody of quality was interested in coming to Spennymoor.

What’s worse all the big boys came knocking for my youthful talent. Most of these players had started getting u21 call-ups so it was understandable. The dilemma was do I cash in with no players out there I wanted to buy or do I persuade my guys to stay?

Stay and try for promotion I thought thumping my manager’s desk for extra emphasis!!

Man, was that a bad choice.

I had to constantly talk to the youngsters as they moaned their way through the season until they started demanding to be sold. Of course the squad’s harmony tanked and we had more red arrows than the RAF.

So while we had been in the playoff spots for the start of the season we began to  nose dive. I ended up having to sell 4 cracking young players in January and could only replace them with mediocre talent. On the plus side we had about 30m in the bank 🙄

We basically went into the draw doldrums for the rest of the season limping to 13th 😞😳🫣

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(Hilariously I took a picture of the league and we’re not even in it.🤣)

Once the season was done the vultures were back for the rest of my talent and I decided a clean squad next season was the best approach. Which meant I ended up with 70+m in the bank!

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and due the crazy profits unlocked:

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which I of course declined:

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So, on to build up that Team Dynamic again—I’m convinced the board is refusing the facilities upgrade due to poor squad harmony. More on that next season when we look for mid-table safety..

The Manager

Oh yes, I took a reputation hit for this season and I’m back to being “Well Respected”: (at least I managed to survive my 5th year):

Spoiler

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Extra Time:

Erm.. I wasn’t offered any jobs this season. I can’t think of any reasons why that would be..

 

 

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Season 7 (2028/29)

Pre-season saw me re-building the squad after last season’s decimation. The quality of players interested was a lot better this time around. I don’t know if it’s because the club picked up an extra half star on it’s overall reputation or just the luck of the transfer market.

The funniest thing happened with the best midfielder that was poached last year. He popped up in my search as being interested,  so naturally I had a look. And found out that stupidly Fulham had but in a 5.5m release clause in his contract..

Oh, yes I did 🤣

So, I sold him for 10m and brought him back for 5.5m. But that’s not even the best bit:

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They also had to pay me the sell-on clause 🤩

After that I started looking up some of the players previously poached in other seasons. I brought back my best defender, my best goalkeeping prospect and the right-back I was forced to sell last season. And, yep a couple of them got me a discount because their club had to also pay me the sell-on clause. Take that vultures 🤘

The season itself was good. We were around the top 3 come January so brought in some more quality to add depth to the squad.

We got promoted with 4 games to go and won the league with 2 games to go:

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Spennymoor is officially a premier league club! Hopefully we stay that way next season..

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West ham also made it back to the big time so a great season for me!

The Manager

It only took a couple of wins to get my revered status back and with winning the league I’m now Continental:

Spoiler

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My coaching stats seem to be going backwards!

Extra Time

As soon as the squad harmony was better the board approved the training facilities upgrade. So, the club is now 4.5 stars for training to go with the maxed youth side.

Still no more job offers. I guess 15 will be it now!

Edited by DoneHisCruciate
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Well done DHC!

The other clubs must have you pegged as Spenny for life... strange that your profile has you loyal as a manager (to the club) and less loyal as a coach (to the players I presume)... also a frugal transfer guru, I'm hoping for the same!

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Season 8 (2029/30)

It’s nice to be in the Premier League but I didn’t realise how much I enjoyed not having VAR 😂

Seeing as there are unlockables for Transfer Windows and Loan Restrictions, I wish there was one for VAR. “The sport’s governing body is asking member clubs whether we should abolish VAR?” Hell yes, please!!

This season was always going to be about survival. Limited funds meant I was relying heavily on loans and just trying to get in a few players that could cope with the Prem.

Intriguingly the board were demanding cup success:

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I was really hoping they weren’t expecting to us to win something. Then I realised that you can find the expectations from the board confidence screen:

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So that all seemed reasonable.

Luckily the game started off in “fluffy” mode and we had a nice red and green fixtures snake. After 13 games we were sitting around 4th:

Spoiler

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Then the game went into “spiky” mode and we had 6 draws in a row.

That’s when it turned on “evil nightmare” mode and the snake became an angry red and yellow:

Spoiler

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It was brutal. We’d be 2 goals up and have a player sent off. We’d concede in 90+ mins and lose the game. We’d batter a team and still lose. Of course, morale dropped, players went into below average form and we went into a death spiral to just above the relegation zone.

I tried lots of different things and clawed some morale and form back,  but mostly I was gripping the sides of the rollercoaster car in terror like a grandad trying to keep his dentures in.

We went 20 games winless before I threw a second string side out against Palace at their place. We thumped them 3-0 and stopped dropping down the league.

We finally finished 12th which I definitely would have taken at the start of the season:

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The Manager

Took a big hit on the manager screen. I went from “revered” to “tolerated”. Yikes! Current form must be quite a big factor:

Spoiler

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Extra Time

For a bit of light relief I took over Scotland! Got to win a couple of friendlies:

Spoiler

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I also unlocked the Loan Restrictions unlockable which I declined:

Spoiler

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Still no more jobs offers so I’ve gotten “Spenny For Life” tattooed on Ryan’s bottom. (Sorry, mate)

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29 minutes ago, MikeF said:

Indisciplined? What have you been up to?! 😂 

Nice work mate. I can relate to a run of results like that. A good solid first season in the Prem. 
 

Yeah, it’s an interesting one, eh? It popped up when we were in the Championship but have no idea what causes it. 

I also went from Frugal to Chequebook manager but it then disappeared—both are considered bad 😁

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