Barnsley: 40% attendance and sod all funds. Premier League? :D

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Allegrif

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Hey, so this is my first attempt on FM 2012... I'm hoping it goes as well as '11 did. I've never written an FM story before, so I'll probably suck. Never mind :p

I only decided to write this 5 or 6 games in to the season, so there's a tiny bit of backtracking.

So, I've picked my hometown of Barnsley. Capacity at Oakwell is 23,187 - average attendance is about 10,500. There's 250k in the transfer pot and nothing to spend on extra wages. Media prediction is 22nd. Looks like I'm in for a bumpy ride.
Realistically there's not much chance of a promotion this season, so I'll be aiming for a top half finish. Here is how I started:

1. Miles Addison loan terminated. Good player, but 9k/week? Don't think so.
2. Danny Drinkwater loan terminated. Again, need the money.
3. All available funds swapped to wage budget.
4. 38 year-old Marco Materazzi in. Free transfer (DC). Old, but a right brute - hoping for minimal injury problems.
5. Stephen Jordan in. Free transfer (DL). Much better than the likes of McNulty and Potter.
6. Kevin Etuhu in. Free transfer (AML). Struggling for pacey/decent wingers. Etuhu will rotate with Done.
7. Stephen Loboué in. Free transfer (GK). Sorry Steele, but he's just better than you :'(

I'll be using the excellent pace of Danny Haynes to break, with Matty Done or Keven Etuhu holding the ball up. Haynes' high work rate means he turns up to defend regularly, so holding the ball up is important.

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So without further ado, here're my tactics:
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Time to get going! :D

To make the finances a lil' less miserable, I decided to organize plenty of high-profile friendly games. I made about 60k from each one, which went nicely towards my high League and cup bonuses (morale). It also gave my players plenty of match fitness before the season. I organised a game with a crappy team 1 week before the League kicked off, hoping for a big win and thus morale. Didn't happen. 3-2 against like Tier 10 opposition? Pfft, I say. PFFT.

Here's how my friendlies went:
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Yeah, I was pretty mad. Still, who cares about friendlies? ;)

The Tykes' season kicked off with a tight home tie against Southampton:
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The super-cool Danny Haynes got us off to a good start after 20 or so minutes, breaking the offside trap and giving the keeper something to cry about. The game was pretty evenly balanced, until Southampton equalised in the 92nd minute. Typical Barmsley. I'll tell you what's not typical Barnsley though, Haynes getting his second with the last kick of the game! :D
3 potentially important points in the spud sack.

Next up is the League Cup. I hate the league cup -_-
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Jim O'Douchebag went and got himself sent off after 4 minutes, and that just about summed us up. A full time roasting was needed, and the lads reacted positively. It's a good job, too. Awful result for us, the board were mad at us for not getting to the minimum expectation of the second round.

After that Douchebaggery, we had to really concentrate on getting some points in the league.
Two bore-draws followed, but I can't say I'm too worried - I'm Barnsley and a point's a point.
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Danny Haynes picked up a 2/3 week injury, which was a huge blow. For the Coventry and Birmingham games I had to play Craig Davies up front, and he wasn't half as dangerous on the counter.
I seem to attract a lot of cards; probably due to my hassle opponents and get stuck in orders, but they pay dividence in creating counter attacks.

We could really do with a win now to get back in the top half. Next fixture: Burnley away.
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Materazzi proudly hacked down and injured 2 Burnley players without conceding a single freekick. What a guy 8-|
Of all people, it was substitute Bobby Hasssell who came up with the goods in the 90th minute. Huzzah! The result doesn't show it, but we played very well against Burnley and were unlucky not to score many more, especially after they were reduced to ten men. This is much more like top-half effort.

I hate Birmingham. They always beat me.
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Not much to report after this one. We played okay, but we fell behind to a penalty and eventually conceded another, which went on to become Goal of the Month for August. Gah.

The last game of this post was a welcome win at home to Bristol City. Thank God for those 3 points!
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This has left us in a good place in the league, let me know what you think so far! (The story will get better now I'm not back-tracking =p)

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Personally, I think 6th is a great start for one of the smallest clubs in the division. It's a shame about the league cup, though. One last thing: anyone got any ideas for a Right Winger?

The story will be continued through the next bunch of pages :)
 
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Good start! It's not going to be an easy season, especially when injuries start to kick in, as I don't think Barnsley have a large squad. Perhaps see what loan players you can sign without having to pay wages (I managed to sign Josh McEachran from Chelsea, John Guidetti from City and Ravel Morrison from United in the second season in the Championship before). Morrison might the answer to your Right Winger problem too.
 
King Salas said:
Good start! It's not going to be an easy season, especially when injuries start to kick in, as I don't think Barnsley have a large squad. Perhaps see what loan players you can sign without having to pay wages (I managed to sign Josh McEachran from Chelsea, John Guidetti from City and Ravel Morrison from United in the second season in the Championship before). Morrison might the answer to your Right Winger problem too.
Click to expand...

Thanks man, the injuries are hurting already! :mad:
I'll check out those loan players and see if any are suitable :)
 
I've tried managing Barnsley before, it's really tough, good luck. I would reccomend changing your Match Prep focu to "Attacking position" or w.e it's called.. It might help you score a few more goals, as you seem to be doing well with clean sheets.
 
My next game is a tough away day at Cardiff. So far they're 11th in the league, and I think this game could give me a good idea of how my season will go. I reckon a win'll mean I have a chance and a loss could mean a bit of a free fall.

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Dear me. Done put us ahead and I was a happy manager, for less than a minute. We went in 2-1 down at half time and I gave them the faith talk, to which they all "looked motivated". We equalised shortly after the break, but some linesman flagged. O'Brien passed it backwards to Haynes who buried it, but apparently that's offside -_-
The lads essentially lost all confidence and that was the end of that. They got a right bollocking at the end of the game.
After that shocker, we're down to 11th.
 
Good luck with this mate, glad your playing the game your way and with normal tactics etc. instead of some super high scoring downloaded tactic.
Makes it more realsitic and defo makes for a better read.

Keep it coming mate, definately following ;)
 
Update

The end of September through October saw a bit of a rollercoaster ride for the Tykes. Some pretty poor performances against the likes of Blackpool and Ipswich (good comeback there, though), made it look like the reds were headed down the table. Luckily, fate shone on us and Watford got an early dismissal, letting us in for a close win. The last game on this list is a home thrashing of Reading, who were owning us until my girlfriend turned up. Good luck charm much? 0_o

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So, this is how the table looks now:
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More updates as they come ~
 
Nice update. Awesome result against Reading. Keep up the good work!
 
Quick update:
Barnsley recently lost Stephen Jordan to injury (broken leg - 8 months), which highlighted our lack of depth in the squad and would prove to be a huge blow to our chances of finishing in the top 6. With the Reds using all available wages already, backup left back Luke Potter had to be brought in to replace Jordan. Potter got injured in his first game. Now I'm down to my last left-back option - Jim McNulty ↓
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He aint great. I'll be rotating him with wing-back Jay McEveley, who isn't much better. Anyone know of any no-wage emergency loans for left-back?

So, with the Tykes looking to stay in the top 6, an away game against second-placed West Ham looked like a brilliant opportunity to establish ourselves up the good end of the table.

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Exactly what we didn't need; our left flank was completely humiliated, with 3 of the 4 goals coming from right-side crosses. This only further proves how costly losing Jordan to injury could be. Morale was down after this defeat, and I brought about a tactical change to swap things around. New tactics:

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Strange, I know - let me explain :)

5 in defence: We're letting too many crosses in, and too many are reaching their targets. The extra man should give us an advantage. Materazzi is set to 'Stopper', so I can use his brilliant heading ability to destroy opposition long-balls and set up counter attacks of my own.
Midfield: Perkins is defensive, coming deep to retrieve the ball and transfer it to Lovre, who's job it is to dispatch defence-splitting through-balls to Haynes - my main goal-source. The triangle creates a crafty one-two technique, bypassing their midfield. O'Brien and Done are just wingers, pretty self-explanatory. Etuhu, preferable to Done, is injured.

Next game: Barnsley vs Millwall - Oakwell

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A good performance, Haynes had a few clear-cut chances but failed to capitalise. The own goal we managed was spozzy to say the least; the keeper caught it and fell into the net? Their loss, our gain. Still, 3 points are 3 points, and this put the the Tykes back in a respectable position!

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That'll be all for now!
 
Solid story so far, gonna be a real challenge with Barnsley...

Interested to see how the new formation works. Gave an "inbalanced" formation a go in FM11, worked well for me just needed to make a few small changes in the first couple of games.
 
Good idea on changing the formation. I'm usually quite bad at changing formations, as I tend to stick religiously to my preffered set up and stubornly won't change. Good to see it's worked out for you against Millwall. Keep up the good work!
 
The league is starting to take some form of shape now, and Barnsley're still up there! Our next game was away to new league leaders Leicester. After going a goal down and a man down, it looked like we were coming away empty handed. Huzzah for Haynes!
A much needed point and a top effort from the Tykes.

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At the start of the season, Barnsley were expected to finish 22nd in the league, one above Donny. Many games in, and both teams are performing well above expectations. The Reds knew they had to win this game; it's a local derby and it'd be great for morale, board confidence and of course the table!

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An excellent performance, I could only have asked that more of our attempts found the net. We seem to be having a lot of problems when it comes to shooting. Shooting and defending, actually. In defence, only Materazzi is any good, as evidenced by our 33 billion goals against. Luckily, we create hundreds of opportunities, and it's a good job, because nobody on the field can shoot :/
So, I've established that we're brilliant at possession football, but rubbish in defence and lacking in composure and cutting-edge. Ideas, anyone?

That left us in 7th, outside the play-offs on goal difference. Once again, we found a must-win game in the form of Peterborough away. A nice dismissal helped our cause and we coasted to a 1-0 victory. Yay!

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Season Standings:

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Drop us a comment, I could do with any help/tips you guys could offer. I told the board I'd challenge for a mid-table finish, but I'm going to update this to a top 6 finish. Do you think it's possible with such a small squad?
 
Hey dude! I´m in my 3rd season inte the Premiership now with my Barnsley squad.
Danny Haynes was a f´cking beast for me scored as ****!! :D
 
For me I looked for a head club and got Arsenal. I loaned Coquelin, so Butterfield and Coquelin together was perfect in my tactic. used the "raikan might n magic away counter" Haynes as the poacher of course, also got Nangis on loan

Recommend better fullbacks though, got rid of Hassel...Aaron Cresswell works nice.

ehm lets see, Ahmed Khalil nice one.

Jim O´brien was perfect. Noble-Lazarus as well.
 
Just a quick one; I'd like to write longer posts but I'm getting excited =p

2 important fixtures to update you on here, at home to Hull and away at Middlesbrough. 2 fantastic victories. We seem to be getting extremely lucky, with own goals and dismissals always going our way. Well, it's a miracle - I shouldn't question it. The lads are in high spirits and I've just been granted a board request for an extra £10k/week on wages. I'm using this to bolster the squad's depth, and I've already got a left winger and a left fullback set to sign in January.

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This recent run has temporarily put us up to 4th in the league, but many teams below have a game in hand.

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Just to say, thanks for following, it gives my game more of a realistic edge :)
 
You've got my attention by using your own tactics etc, keeps it realistic and a good read.

Gr8 run of form mate, keep it up.
Top half finish would be gr8 still, so don't get too down if results go against u at some stage.

Keep us posted ;)
 
The run up to the mid-point of the season went excellent, the Tykes were on top form and went on an amazing unbeaten run:

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With 23 games gone, the dream of a top half finish already looks obsolete, and them lot frum't tarn (from Barnsley) are allowing themselves to hope for even a chance of promotion. Is it possible? The manager thinks so.

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Confidence:

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With January comes, of course, the transfer window! The Reds have had to make a couple of tough decisions, but it's all for the greater good.

Out:
Luke Steele (GK) - to Sheff Utd - 150k
Jim O'Brien (AMRLC) - to Man City (Lol?) - 325k

In:
Fernando Vega (DL) - Free transfer
Fodé Mansaré (AML) - Free transfer
Shaun Batt (AMR) - from Millwall - 120k

As you can see, I've had to buy another left back for that crisis area. This time though, I think I've found a beauty. To go with him I've acquired Mansaré for the left wing; he's just as pacey as Done (who's injured) but has much better mental and technical stats. That should mean more assists from that side :)
I had to sell Jim O'Brien for the money more than anything, and to replace him I've payed 120k to Millwall for Shaun Batt, a pacey right winger. You can probably guess that I prefer pace over skill.

Current tactics:

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I'm predicting a drop in form as the new signings gel and the formation gets tweaked. Our next game, *something* to Crystal Palace should be a good test. I say *something*, because it was at home, but we wore our away kit? Huh?

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^ There's taking the **** and there's taking the ****. Look at the match stats, we dominated the game. Now look at the Crystal Palace scorers -_-

That'll be it for today, me thinks.
 
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