Football Manager 2017

[Lineker]

I'll start by playing a save as Spurs to get used to the game, before starting as a random team somewhere within the EFL pyramid. But if LLM is something that appeals to you then you should absolutely do it.

[Rocky]

LLM is always going to be a fun challenge. That or a foreign competition you have no experience in. Though that's probably better further down the track when you're more used to the game.

[Benji]

Barrow and Austria 2021/22. Well, we failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup on goal difference. Italy match ended 1-0 with them the winners, but honestly I felt robbed, we deserved a draw. Barrow, I've switched starting formations to an extremely defensive 5-2-1-2 with long balls instead of retaining position but scoring no goals and it seems to be doing the trick, and if it doesn't I switch back to 4-3-1-2 and hope for the best, with a full 4-3-3 if we need late goals. We're still not going to challenge the league, but we're out of a rut we were in and comfortably lower-mid table.

Oh, I also just surpassed my previous tenure at Kidderminster Harriers. Barrow is now the club I have served the longest at 936 days (KH was 915).

[MDK]

8 hours ago, si2787 said:

Picked this up about 4 days ago. I just can't find the motivation to get into a game atm. I used to play FM religiously but now I just can't find that spark, that certain little something a lub has to make you go 'Yes! we can do this! We will succeed!'

So, opening up the floor. Suggestions for a first game? Do I start my usual Conference North or South game with 'random mid table team' and see how quickly I can go up the leagues. Perhaps a sunday league unemployed game and see where life takes me?

What have you guys been doing to 'get your mojo back' when playing FM?

When I had the beta I started as Orient, as usual, with the goal of getting out of League Two, but then I got bored because it was still the beta and wanted all the other bits. So my other standard game is Spurs because they can become unbeatable and have a core set of English players.

Or try playing in Gibraltar or Wales, its a fun little challenge. 

[Benji]

Hah, joke is on you game. My squad is made up of UK folks and a bunch of internationals from scrub nations who come bottom of their continental FA's World Cup qualifying groups.

[Rocky]

My star player for Wealdstone, Jayce Olivero, is from Gibraltar... I wonder if this is why I can't get him to re-sign with me? Or because he's gotten way too good for my team... Probably the latter.

[DavidMarrio]

I've left Senegal and moved to Ivory Coast, also just realized that they are going to be competing in the Confederations Cup so I've got an outside chance of possibly winning that. Italy, France, Uruguay and Argentina are all in the tournament and I'm unfortunately stuck in a group with Italy, Argentina and USA so if I can sneak into 2nd and qualify for the semis then I've got a good chance. Plus as I mentioned the other day due to taking over Senegal after they failed to get to the 3rd qualifying stage of the African World Cup qualifiers I've got those games to look forward to. 

I've got a good squad available to me with a solid group of regens coming through, there's an attacking left mid I signed and a right back I also signed a few seasons ago (neither of them I've not been able to play due to work-permit issues but I suppose I can get them enough caps for consideration now  ) 

[Benji]

Someone just leaked that I applied for another job and now the board want to talk increasing the transfer and wage budgets. lolno

[Benji]

Barrow and Austria 2021/22 hit Jan 1st 2022 last night and we're floating around 14th-16th consistently and have held our own against some of the leagues top teams, even scraping draws and a 3-0 thumping against teams in the top six, but we can't maintain that consistency to get any higher. Barring a major collapse, I feel like we're going to hit 50 points fairly safely, and I don't think we even need that much to stay up. I'm honestly coasting until another job comes up at the moment. I've even applied to League One teams that I know will have better growth opportunities, but they won't take a shot on me even though I managed back to back promotions including getting out of that league with the lowest wage budget in the competition. Heck, I keep telling teams I'll work with lower budgets than offered just in the hope they might take me but it isn't happening.

I still have £25,000p/w left in my £100,000p/w wage budget, and £500k in the transfer kitty, but nobody worth their salt wants to come to a team who pays their best players around £4,000p/w for Championship level football, and I refuse to sign more anyway until I offload some of the folks I have brought up the leagues with me, plus I want to keep some money fresh in case I am still here at season end and need to negotiate some contracts (two or three major players are running short as I was hoping to jump sideways to another Championship team and snag them on the cheap as utility players).

I had hoped to qualify with Austria for the World Cup and have some warm up games to break the monotony of Barrow, but I don't even have that to look forward to now. I have at least convinced them to expand the stadium since we've sold out almost every league match this year, and by the end of the season I should have my A license, so at least there's that. I'm also now contracted to two more seasons past this one but at a low wage and with a management offer clause that reduces compensation, so I may as well settle back in until someone wants me.

[Benji]

On 26/11/2016 at 14:36, Benji said:

Kidderminster let my star youth prospect leave on a free and he's moved with me to Barrow! Andre Brown, we'll make a star of you!

Looking back through the career so far. Andre Brown, we made you an U23 squad member for a season and then let you go because your potential dropped massively

[Meacon Keaton]

He got hooked on the drugs.

[SquareRootOfSi]

On 15/02/2017 at 20:40, Benji said:

Hah, joke is on you game. My squad is made up of UK folks and a bunch of internationals from scrub nations who come bottom of their continental FA's World Cup qualifying groups.

Thats the hard brexit right? if i recall from the Dev speak there are three possible transfer rules that could come into play?

[Benji]

Aye, hard Brexit and Gibraltar as the only dissenter.

[Bobfoc]

I'm sure there's a version of Brexit in which Scotland and Northern Ireland leave the UK too.

[DNB]

Has anyone tried the fantasy draft with their friends yet? 

 

I did one with 150 mil budget, after signing Lukaku I was stuck for the rest of the 25 picks. Very difficult. 

[Baddar]

45 minutes ago, DNB said:

Has anyone tried the fantasy draft with their friends yet? 

 

I did one with 150 mil budget, after signing Lukaku I was stuck for the rest of the 25 picks. Very difficult. 

Sounds like me trying to play fantasy football. I spunk my entire budget on the strikers and have £4m left for the other 9 players. 

[Benji]

Barrow and Austria 2021/22. Something of a dull season, only ever wound up between 13th and 16th, but even despite some drops in form we never looked like being relegated. A helpful season for seeing who could make the Championship jump though, as I've cleared out a lot of players who have been with me from the start at Barrow sadly, because despite handling the season, they were largely getting on and wouldn't improve.

So I've bought in 12 players all under 23's who have potential to be better and are either equal current ability or better. It also meant I improved my wage budget which needed rebalancing after several good players asked for increases last season. Spent under £500k on the transfers, and got a couple of players on the cheap who should have been way more expensive. Also tried to bring in a few wingers as my lack of them left us restricted to playing narrow last season, which isn't a tactic I can see working at this level and beyond. Frustratingly I had five decent keepers last season, but only one of them remains as others we were offered too good to turn down deals or simply weren't good enough, so I'm probably going to have to loan a backup keeper in.

Barrow and Wales 2022/23. Oh, and also I'm now fluent in German just in time to be offered the Wales job, which I took because fuck Austria

[Baddar]

I've no idea how you power through seasons so quickly! 

[Meacon Keaton]

For real. I spend months on a season.

[Benji]

1 hour ago, Baddar said:

I've no idea how you power through seasons so quickly! 

Magic. Also only key highlights, assistant dealing with friendlies and just playing in the background whilst doing other stuff.