I decided I was going to try and bring Crewe back form League 2 obscurity. Get the youth system back up to speed producing good young talent for both Crewe's 1st team and to sell to help build the club reputation, facilities, etc.
I play the game with attribute masking on, no in game editor and version 18.3 & I let all the loan players go.
The Club details:Transfer Budget - £81kWage Budget - 2k (available)Training Facilities - 16Youth Facilities - 10Youth Academy - 11
Season 1 Overview: A quick look at the squad reveals that some changes to the squad or my prefered tactics were going to have to be made. The squad is a young one with some players with good potential.
The keepers are all between 23 & 17 with 2 who could challenge for starting GK position. The Defence is fairy spread out with ages and some good potential for development. We have a lot of young midfielders in the team with just 2 over 27 (28 & 34 respectively) the rest are all 21 and under. Some promising AM prospects again all young (20 and below). We are overloaded in Strikers with similar roles.
There is some interest for a couple of Crewe’s players for both transfer and loan. Moving a Striker or 2 on is one of the 1st orders of business. Despite having good coverage of positions, depth of players good enough for the 1st team isn’t great.
Players out - x13 player out - x9 on loan x4 sold Players In - x9 - x4 on loan x2 DF, x1 MD x1 ST | x3 bought - 2 are youngsters (16 & 17) good candidates for development, x1 DF known by my scout offers experience and good to use as a tutor. x2 free transfers x1 MD goodcover & great tutor, x1 ST my new 1st choice striker and again a good tutor.
January Window -x1 player out (loan)No players in
I let 1 coach & a scout go and brought in a replacement coach & x2 scouts.
The Season:The pre-season was a mixed bag, we lost a game we should of walked to victory in. and lost a game I should of cancelled against far better opposition (4-1 loss)
Carabou Cup - Got past the 1st round with a 2-0 win over Crawley Town, before being knocked out by Coventry City 2-1.
F.A Cup -Crewe surprisingly got to the 3rd round before losing to Aston Villa 3-0.
League -Finished 13th - 17W 11D 18L - 62Pts (around predicted position)
Pivotal Game:According to the game it was a 2-1 win over Swindon Town which ended a 4 game losing streak. I felt it was a 4-0 win over Grimsby Town ending a 9 game streak without a win which was the start of a 6 game winning streak.
Season 2 Overview: The youth in take this season was ok - I was informed of x3 players who deserve a closer look. Only 2 were let go, the rest were added to the youth team.
I requested that the club improve the youth recruitment and facilities -> This was rejected.
Some more rebuilding needed, I was unable to renew the x2 loan signings I made for another year.
Players out - The loan player who went out with an option to buy was bought. x1 player retired after a injury racked season. x3 players were released at the end of their contracts.
In addition x9 players out - x6 on loan, x3 sold (including x1 who I signed on a free last season).
Players In - x11 players in - x4 players on loan, x3 bought & x4 free transfers.
Some of these are fairly big jumps in quality over who left this year.
January Window -x3 players out - x1 on loan x2 soldx2 players in - x1 on a only pay when he reaches 50 games the other was a regular buy.
(following this I signed 5 youth player from other clubs during the March youth intake)
I also let x2 coaches x1 Physio & x1 scout go at the end of their contracts replacing them all.(I requested another coach & scout but again I was denied).
The Season:The pre-season was a bit better only 1 team I was going to struggle against the others were easier or Crewe’s level. We only lost the one game against a Championship team.
Carabou Cup - Got past the 1st round with a 3-1 win over Swindon Town, the 2nd round was a 2-1 win after extra time against Bury before being knocked out by newly promoted Portsmouth 2-1.
F.A Cup -1 game 1 defeat- 9 changes to the team giving a lot of youth players a game 3-1 lose to MK Dons.
League -Finished 10th (on goal difference) - 20W 10D 16L - 70Pts (above expected position [14th]
Pivotal Game:I agreed with the game a 3-0 win over Port Vale was the 2nd of our best spell of the season - 9 games without defeat. Before this game Crewe was on a win one lose one run that lasted 8 games.
I used to be on a LLM (Lower League Manager) Forum and followed there rules when telling this story apart from the ‘must post the 1st 3 seasons with your 1st post.
If people are interested in this let me know and I continue to post - I am going to finish season 4 shortly and will post those if there is interest.
I play the game with attribute masking on, no in game editor and version 18.3 & I let all the loan players go.
The Club details:Transfer Budget - £81kWage Budget - 2k (available)Training Facilities - 16Youth Facilities - 10Youth Academy - 11
Season 1 Overview: A quick look at the squad reveals that some changes to the squad or my prefered tactics were going to have to be made. The squad is a young one with some players with good potential.
The keepers are all between 23 & 17 with 2 who could challenge for starting GK position. The Defence is fairy spread out with ages and some good potential for development. We have a lot of young midfielders in the team with just 2 over 27 (28 & 34 respectively) the rest are all 21 and under. Some promising AM prospects again all young (20 and below). We are overloaded in Strikers with similar roles.
There is some interest for a couple of Crewe’s players for both transfer and loan. Moving a Striker or 2 on is one of the 1st orders of business. Despite having good coverage of positions, depth of players good enough for the 1st team isn’t great.
Players out - x13 player out - x9 on loan x4 sold Players In - x9 - x4 on loan x2 DF, x1 MD x1 ST | x3 bought - 2 are youngsters (16 & 17) good candidates for development, x1 DF known by my scout offers experience and good to use as a tutor. x2 free transfers x1 MD goodcover & great tutor, x1 ST my new 1st choice striker and again a good tutor.
January Window -x1 player out (loan)No players in
I let 1 coach & a scout go and brought in a replacement coach & x2 scouts.
The Season:The pre-season was a mixed bag, we lost a game we should of walked to victory in. and lost a game I should of cancelled against far better opposition (4-1 loss)
Carabou Cup - Got past the 1st round with a 2-0 win over Crawley Town, before being knocked out by Coventry City 2-1.
F.A Cup -Crewe surprisingly got to the 3rd round before losing to Aston Villa 3-0.
League -Finished 13th - 17W 11D 18L - 62Pts (around predicted position)
Pivotal Game:According to the game it was a 2-1 win over Swindon Town which ended a 4 game losing streak. I felt it was a 4-0 win over Grimsby Town ending a 9 game streak without a win which was the start of a 6 game winning streak.
Season 2 Overview: The youth in take this season was ok - I was informed of x3 players who deserve a closer look. Only 2 were let go, the rest were added to the youth team.
I requested that the club improve the youth recruitment and facilities -> This was rejected.
Some more rebuilding needed, I was unable to renew the x2 loan signings I made for another year.
Players out - The loan player who went out with an option to buy was bought. x1 player retired after a injury racked season. x3 players were released at the end of their contracts.
In addition x9 players out - x6 on loan, x3 sold (including x1 who I signed on a free last season).
Players In - x11 players in - x4 players on loan, x3 bought & x4 free transfers.
Some of these are fairly big jumps in quality over who left this year.
January Window -x3 players out - x1 on loan x2 soldx2 players in - x1 on a only pay when he reaches 50 games the other was a regular buy.
(following this I signed 5 youth player from other clubs during the March youth intake)
I also let x2 coaches x1 Physio & x1 scout go at the end of their contracts replacing them all.(I requested another coach & scout but again I was denied).
The Season:The pre-season was a bit better only 1 team I was going to struggle against the others were easier or Crewe’s level. We only lost the one game against a Championship team.
Carabou Cup - Got past the 1st round with a 3-1 win over Swindon Town, the 2nd round was a 2-1 win after extra time against Bury before being knocked out by newly promoted Portsmouth 2-1.
F.A Cup -1 game 1 defeat- 9 changes to the team giving a lot of youth players a game 3-1 lose to MK Dons.
League -Finished 10th (on goal difference) - 20W 10D 16L - 70Pts (above expected position [14th]
Pivotal Game:I agreed with the game a 3-0 win over Port Vale was the 2nd of our best spell of the season - 9 games without defeat. Before this game Crewe was on a win one lose one run that lasted 8 games.
I used to be on a LLM (Lower League Manager) Forum and followed there rules when telling this story apart from the ‘must post the 1st 3 seasons with your 1st post.
If people are interested in this let me know and I continue to post - I am going to finish season 4 shortly and will post those if there is interest.