2nd season with bognor

[yidoyido10]

Ok so im doing the LLM thing, and playing as bognor. (i started unemployed and was the first job i got. This is my 1st attempt at LLM so have got the reunion players loaded (some say its cheating, but oh well!)

Ive not quite finished my 1st season, but have nothing to play for with 2 games to go and want to start turning my attention to next season.

Basically it was injuries that crippled me. I was absolutely flying at the start of the season. I vastly reduced my wagebill, gradually getting each player i already had to lower their wages so i could afford to bring in some quality. I ended up with a starting line up as follows:

GK: Thierry Gorree (reunion)
DR: Duncan Jupp (starts at bognor)
DL: Brice Clairenteau (reunion) OR Jon Beswetherick (signed on a free)
DC: Andrew Pearson (loan from Brighton)
DC: Gael Payet (reunion)
DM: Danny Smith (starts at bognor)
MR: Fabrice Augerai (reunion)
ML: Eric Farro (renunion)
MC: Jean-Phillipe Javary (reunion)
CF: ***** Robert (reunion)
CF: Samuel Levenuer (reunion)

Other playes on and around my bench:

GK: Julien Boursault (reunion)
DC/DR: Neil Whitworth (free)
DC/DM: Zlatko Yankov (free)
MC/R/L: Scott Chamberlain (bognor)
MC: James Archer (bognor)
CF: Jahson Downes (starts with bognor on load from Reading)
and a few other poor players that start at bognor making up the numbers

Yet at one stage or other i had probably my 4 best players out injured long term (by long term i mean 2-9months). and other players over the course of the season.

Robert: broken leg, Leveneur: about 5 months, Farro: 2 spells of 2 months, Augerai: 3 months, u get the drift.

Had to rejig my team with players the best of a bad bunch that had basically been expected to finish bottom of blue square south. At one point i had DC pearson playing as a makeshift target man and in fairness to him he did alright and finished the season on 8 goals, then he also got injured for a while as well!

When the got injured i dropped off the pace and spent the rest of the season 7-10ish, and when they came back to fitness have made a late surge for the play offs but some tough fixtures have meant its not impossible to reach the playoffs.

Just wondering if any of you more experience LLMs can offer any advice for the following season. The obvious answer is that I need more depth to cover injuries, although thats going to depend on finances. Im at my maximum for wages at the moment, and the downside of reducing my wage bill at the start of season 1, was having to increase the lengths of contracts, so i cant really afford to release players either.

Any advice on ways to improve my finances would be appreciated. I know friendlies can provide income, ive also heard that if u get good enough teams to play in a tournament u can get TV coverage for it. But since im bognor is there any chance of this? i cant see any premiership sides accepting, if it is doable what sort of clubs would be realistic?

i'll leave it there as its turned into a long post. but also any player recommendations would be welcome on the off chance i can free up some wage budget. Bare in mind they probably need to be freebees.

thanks

 

[Zebedee]

Bognor can attract Premier League reserves for friendlies. Brighton game is always a good little earner (for the level). You might want to try to get more parent clubs - so you can loan players (at no cost!) and also for the friendlies or the money they'll provide (rare but have seen it - although strictly speaking, it's against LLM 'rules' as English clubs aren't allowed to be feeder clubs in real life...). Remember that you can loan players in for up to 3 months on short-term loans- so if you've got a striker crisis, find one you can loan

Bring through some of your youth players to increase squad depth. There's usually one or two a season who are at least ok for the level.

Financially, the best thing you can do with a true lower league club like Bognor is to have a couple of good cup runs. Making the 3rd round of the FA Cup can be done with a bit of luck and skill, and that can obviously make a real difference to finances. Even making the first round and playing a match against a league club away can be lucrative.