A Pilgrimage to the Premier League

[AFishWithTits]

APRIL
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RESULTS
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Plymouth Argyle 1-0 Morecambe [League Two]
Craig Forsyth (45)
Plymouth Argyle 2-0 Exeter City [League Two]
Emile Mpenza (30), Luke Young (61)
Rotherham United 1-2 Plymouth Argyle [League Two]
Alex Revell (54), Emile Mpenza (13, 27)
Rochdale 1-0 Plymouth Argyle [League Two]
Allan Harris (47)
Plymouth Argyle 1-0 Dagenham and Redbridge [League Two]
Paul Wotton (7)

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
In our final month of the season, our player of the month goes to Emile Mpenza, who scored 3 goals in 4 games and got an average rating of 7.3.
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LEAGUE POSITION: 1st!
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MONTH SUMMARY
Alas, we come to our final month of the season, and what a month it was. After both Chesterfield and Wycombe slipped up on the first fixture of the month, we took advantage of this and drew level on points with both of these teams after a 1-0 win to Morecambe. The title race was looking very tight with our team at first place for the majority of the month, separated by goal difference. Losing 1-0 to Rochdale on the penultimate game of the season, I thought that we'd blown our title chance. So it came as delightful news when Chesterfield and Wycombe both lost in this fixture too! We had somehow managed to get off, which proved a true blessing. On the last game of the season, Paul Wotton's seventh minute strike ensured us the 3 points, whereas Chesterfield drew and Wycombe lost, meaning that the title was ours!
I'm very proud to finish first, especially as we were predicted sixth. It wasn't easy but we did it and I'm chuffed to bits.

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ARGYLE CELEBRATE A TITLE WIN!

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We're not too sure how, but rookie manager Lewis Edwards has guided to Plymouth Argyle's first title win since they won the League One title in 2004. On an intense ultimate game of the season, Paul Wotton struck gold on the 7th minute to give Argyle the 3 points, and the league title at that. Chesterfield finished in second, 2 points behind the Pilgrims with 81 points, and Wycombe Wanderers finished 3rd with 80 points. We spoke to a jubilant Plymouth manager after the game.
"I'm so delighted with our season and everyone involved can be so proud. We've worked so hard and it was certainly never easy, but we've done it. I hope I've silenced my critics."
Plymouth notched up 67 goals and conceded 44 during the course of the season. Only Wycombe conceded less goals (42). They also lost just seven games, even going on a 14 game unbeaten streak, which lasted from the 24th of November to the 9th of February.


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[DanWalsallFC]

Well done! Very impressive. Next season could be difficult though.

 

[AFishWithTits]

Well done! Very impressive. Next season could be difficult though.

Thank you very much Yes I agree, to be honest, I'm kind of dreading it. We're gonna need to play very defensively, that's for sure.

 

[pyromyst]

Lovin this thread, am following with great interest. Keep up the good work

 

[andy_14clark]

Awesome story, love the layout.

 

[AFishWithTits]

Lovin this thread, am following with great interest. Keep up the good work

Thank you

Awesome story, love the layout.

Again, thank you Yeah, simple layout but effective.

 

[AFishWithTits]

PRE-SEASON
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TRANSFERS

IN:
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• 
  [*=left]John Carew - Free
  [*=left]George Swann - Free
  [*=left]Bruno Perone - Free
  
  [*=left]Maher Haddad - 150k
  [*=left]Alexander McQueen - Free
  [*=left]Byron Moore - 250k (100k up front with 150k over 48 months)
  
  [*=left]Craig Sutherland - Free

OUT:​

• 
  [*=left]Rhys Griffiths - Free
  [*=left]Ollie Chenoweth - Free
  
  [*=left]Paul Wotton - Free
  
  [*=left]Jamie Lowry - 12k
  
  [*=left]George Swann - Loan
  
  [*=left]Joe Lennox - Loan

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Well, I got 200k transfer budget and about 9k to spend on wages, which I was fairly pleased with. I had to be pretty flexible and adjust the transfer budget by shrinking the wage a bit to accommodate the transfer with Byron Moore, but I was more than happy to do that. My key signings were Byron Moore, Maher Haddad and Craig Sutherland. The biggest name signing was perhaps John Carew. However, he will be used more as cover as the season progresses. I couldn't get a scout report on him before signing due to scouting restrictions, so I trusted my initiative and signed him anyway. He didn't shine in pre-season, and only has a coach report of 2 stars, so his experience will be mainly what he brings to the club. George Swann and Alex McQueen were brought in as youths and I look forward to developing and getting the best out of them, while Brazilian Bruno Perone was signed to bolster the defence.
Despite Rhys Griffiths getting the highest average rating last year, I decided to let him go. Although he started on fire in the first half of the season last season, his second half was unimpressive, leading me to believe that he wouldn't cut it at League One level. Paul Wotton was released due to age, and both Ollie Chenoweth and Jamie Lowry were surplus to requirements.

RESULTS
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Again, I left the pre-season games to my assistant, as I prefer to concentrate mainly on off-the-field matters such as transfers and training during this time. I was impressed with some of the results he managed to grind out with the team, especially the 2-1 victory versus Chelsea.

OTHER
My media prediction for this season is 18th, which I find fairly reasonable. Hopefully I can even finish mid-table.
My captain for the season is Jose Ortiz, while my vice captain is Ferrie Bodde.

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EDWARDS TO BEGIN SECOND SEASON
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Looking back this time last season, things looked very grim indeed for Plymouth Argyle. Financially tight and with a popular manager walking out, they were left to hire a rookie manager who no one had ever heard of, with no past footballing experience whatsoever.
Fast forward a year, and Plymouth are now in League One and looking to the future.
"It's going to be a tough year," said manager Edwards, "but we'll get by. We've got a decent squad, not just in ability, but mentally too. They're a strong bunch.
The really exciting thing is that we've got a young squad. Some players who already play in the first team, like Luke Young, Curtis Nelson, Durrell Berry, they're all 19, 20, 21, and they can only get bright. Then we've got other players who I think will become great players, such as George Swann, Jamie Richards, Matt Lecointe, the new boy Alexander McQueen, Ben Purrington, Christian Walton, River Allen etc. We have a lot of prospects.
And we're certainly not shy of experience either. Players like Emile Mpenza, Jose Ortiz, Darren Purse, John Carew, they're all sort of mid-thirties and their experience is invaluable."
One of the challenges this season for Edwards will be to keep his strikers happy. Assuming that Plymouth will continue their traditional formation with just the lone striker, there are 4 strikers who, realistically, can hold down a first team place. These are Craig Sutherland, Wes Fletcher, Emile Mpenza and John Carew.
"Yes, it will be a challenge to keep them happy. However, everyone knows what role they play for the club, and if players get unhappy that they're not getting enough game time, I would advise them to think of what's best for the team and not the individual.
Key players this year I think will be Byron Moore, Maher Haddad and Onismor Bhasera. Everyone can see their quality, and it's up to us to utilize this quality. If they can be in top form for the majority of the season, I have every confidence that we can avoid relegation and achieve a safe position this year."
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^New Plymouth signing, Maher Haddad^​

 

[White army]

well done on ur title win and how on earth did u get john carew

 

[AFishWithTits]

well done on ur title win and how on earth did u get john carew

Cheers man, he's a free agent and I pay him like 2k a week haha

 

[kewlwarez]

Great result. Like this story, will keep following. In FM 2012 I also picked Plymouth for my main save and managed to get them up to the Premier League where, in 2020/21 they're on course to win the title again, not having lost or drawn any game yet.

And then FM 2013 came out...

 

[AFishWithTits]

Great result. Like this story, will keep following. In FM 2012 I also picked Plymouth for my main save and managed to get them up to the Premier League where, in 2020/21 they're on course to win the title again, not having lost or drawn any game yet.

And then FM 2013 came out...

Sweet dude, that's definitely where I want to be. ****, I want to win the Champions League with them at some point haha. Well done on that though.

Okay I'm gonna write up the August summary now.

 

[AFishWithTits]

AUGUST 2013
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RESULTS
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Plymouth Argyle 0-1 Watford [Captial One Cup, First Round]
Jonathan Hogg (83)
Plymouth Argyle 1-1 Stevenage [League One]
Jose Ortiz (83), Lucas Adkins (49)
Scunthorpe United 2-1 Plymouth Argyle [League One]
Jimmy Ryan (79), David Mirfin (83), Emile Mpenza (72)
Plymouth Argyle 1-1 Barnsley [League One]
Maxime Blanchard (2), Craig Davies (pen. 54)
Doncaster Rovers 0-0 Plymouth Argyle [League One]

PLAYER OF THE MONTH
Kicking off our 2013/2014 campaign, Maxime Blanchard has been in fine form, getting an average rating of 7.26 in five goals, even adding a goal to his name.
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LEAGUE POSITION: 19th

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MONTH SUMMARY
Well the fixture computer hadn't been very kind to us at the start of the season. All of the teams but Stevenage have been in the Championship at some point in the last 3 years or so, and they are the 'daddy' clubs in the league, so to speak. We still find ourselves conceding late equalisers or winners; take the game against Scunthorpe. It had been a pretty balanced game and when Mpenza found the net on the 72nd minute, I thought we'd win it. However, they went and smashed two late goals past us, which ****** ME OFF.
This month and how well it went depends on whether you're a 'half full' or 'half empty' kind of person. On one side, we haven't won a league game yet, which obviously isn't good. On the other side, we're a newly promoted team and only lost one league game in four. So it's all about if we perceive it as a good thing or a bad thing. I, however, am still optimistic about the season, and if we can manage to avoid defeats against bigger teams like Barnsley and Doncaster, I'm quite confident about this season.​