Oxford City: From University Town to European Glory

[EmZa]

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Hey, I love reading football manager stories, especially road to glories, but I've never posted one before. I started playing FM in 2015. Being an analytical kind of kid, the idea of such a detailed game and the simulation aspect really attracted me. I finally decided to cough up for FM 16 and start anew. In my first RTG I took Plymouth Argyle to Champion's league glory so this time I decided to go a step further and complete the classic FM challenge: take a Conference South/North team to Premier League and eventually European glory. As I'm new to this whole shebang any and all feedback is appreciated. I'm sorry I'm not doing something more interesting or creative, but this is just a classic RTG.

Anyways, the team I chose was Oxford City. Why? No reason really, I just usually choose a team predicted to finish midtable, and City were predicted to finish 9th in the Conference South. But I was aiming for bigger. I don't really know anything about the club's history, it seems they've never been in the football league so I'm looking to take them into uncharted territory. My goals: Eventually win the EPL, FA Cup, Champion's league, and most importantly; become a better club than our fierce rivals Oxford Utd.

Anyways, here's the club
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As you can see, I've chosen the Bulgarian legend Dimitar Berbatov as my manager picture. Here are my stats (I started as a more tactical manager with semi-professional footballing experience.
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I'm already more than halfway through our first season so I'll post our transfers, formations, results, and league position soon!

 

[EmZa]

I'm going to be posting updates the every two months, including any transfer or injury news. I'll usually post the month's results and a league table but because I'm already halfway through this season I can't post the league tables yet.
But to start off let's talk about the first season. So the first thing I noticed when I looked at my squad was the strangely large number of Spanish players. Six in total in fact! This is quite incredible at this level where almost all the players in English. I quickly found the players that would be integral to my success this season (note the screenshots are taken in March of the first season):
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Carlos Pifarre: Was worth over 200k at the start of the season. Looks very decent for this level, and will probably fit in as a wide midfielder or winger for us. Definitely the star of our team (no idea how Oxford signed him). And that 17 fitness means he won't be tired between matches, which is great.

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Jon Arzamendi: Another Spanish lad, another player too good for this level. With very good stats for a centre back he will be a rock for us this season at the back and at 23 he is already a leading player for most Conference sides, with potential to be a leading League 2 centre back.

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Bradley Bubb A great player with a great name. Will be utilizing this guy as a defensive forward this season which has worked well for me before. Solid stats all around.

The rest of the squad is distinctly average, and with a transfer budget of 2K and a pretty small wage budget, a couple of free transfers or loans is the best I could hope for. This season will definitely be a challenge facing up to teams with a lot more money (Ebsfleet, I'm looking at you, you mugs).

Transfers:
Since our squad wasn't very big to begin with, I didn't sell anyone this summer, and a few players came in. Here's the rundown (note that the stats may be declining or increasing due to the fact that I've already played half a season). I also bought two scouts since we didn't have any. I'm pretty sure all the Spanish players were signed when the chairman was on holliday in Barcelona and saw some lads having a kickabout and signed them all on one day:

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Jonathan Kapend: Pretty good all around striker on loan from Port Vale with great potential. Will be a partner to Bubb up top as a poacher. Our other actual striker is a massive lad from the U21s called Vinny Mukendi who is 6"7 but as you can imagine isn't very good at much other than headers. Still a decent backup but Kapend and a winger called Isaac will be the main partners for Bubb up top.



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Sam Beale: Not much to write home about. As you can see I terminated his loan since he barely played. Stupid loan but not much harm done.


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Sam Corcoran: Another loan. Prefers central midfield but I needed a good right mid as well so he'll probably play in both. Looks good and if he performs I'll try to sign him at the end of the season (no point with Kapend since he's worth around 300k).


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Lewis Wilson: Doesn't look great yet but good potential for the future (league 2 quality).


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Neil Barrett: We really needed central midfielders so in August I brought in Neil Barrett who once played for Chelsea in the prem in the 2000/01 season but never made an appearance. However made over 20 appearances for Pompey in the Championship so decent career. Might be old but good stats and should be solid in the centre.

Coming up next: I'll show you the formations, as well as how we've gotten on in our competitions so far this season. Again, any feedback would be really appreciated so I can know whether to continue this or not.

 

[EmZa]

Formations and Preseason

So with the transfers done it was time to experiment with formations. As usual I set 3 up (I always tinker with the instructions so no point in showing them). They don't have many instructions anyways as I don't want to confuse my lower-league maestros The three I chose were:

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The 41131: Looks weird, but this tactic I created back in FM15 with Plymouth (I'm sure other people have used it as well, I just haven't seen it) worked wonders for me and led me to a famous 6-4 extra-time victory over Barcelona. The key is to pretty much attack the whole time. Obviously, with these less-developed players I can't do very complicated instructions or player roles so might not be the best to use right now but still a great tactic for down the road. Can also be used on counter or defensive but obviously is based on attack.

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The 442: Oh, who doesn't love a good old 442? It's the 6th division, were you really expecting something more complicated. It's just a standard 442, retaining possession, playing through the middle and short passing. Maybe with my Spanish players I can become the lower league Barcelona - Oxford City tiki-taka.

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The 4141. A formation I haven't used much before in FM but I'm always willing to experiment, with a defensive midfielder this shouldn't leak a lot of goals, especially on control, but goalscoring might be an issue.

Preseason:
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A very decent, if non-eventful preseason. Aside from the standard friendly vs the U21s, two very reputable draws against league two teams. The win against Barwell was unimpressive, but the squad performed very well against Peterborough, a team 3 divisions above us. I couldn't really experiment with the tactics since I had to play defensive a lot of the time against higher league opposition, but right now the 442 or the 41131 seems the most likely course of action for the beginning of the season. I'll probably experiment a bit more

 

[savan21]

Seems interesting, All the best ! Following

Btw 4-4-2 always works

 

[EmZa]

Seems interesting, All the best ! Following

Btw 4-4-2 always works

Thanks so much. And yeah I always use it in the lower leagues

 

[carrott24]

Great concept, will follow with interest. One piece of advice, don't do game by game updates. Do it monthly at least. Story flows a lot better that way.

 

[EmZa]

Great concept, will follow with interest. One piece of advice, don't do game by game updates. Do it monthly at least. Story flows a lot better that way.

Was planning to do so. Game to game is too much for me anyways haha. It'll be going up today

 

[EmZa]

Season 2015/16 Results - August/September

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August:

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Busy first month for us as you can see. A mixed bag which left us around midtable. I kept changing formations in the first few games but finally settled on the 442 (short passing, retain posession, standard). Those two losses in a row left me worried after a decent win against Chelmsford. But then an incredible comeback against Basingstoke where we came from 3-2 down in the 87th minute to win really seemed to kickstart us and we didn't lose again. Great character from the lads, my inner Brendan Rodgers was showing after the match. The late draw against Havant and W was great too because my right back Benjamin scored a late 20 yard screamer to tie the game. A decent first month, with Bubb, my defensive forward and Pifarre, my left midfielder particularly impressing. Sam Corcoran and Jonathan Kapend, two loan signings, popped up with a couple of assists as well. I can't post the league table obviously because I'm currently in February but once I'm up to date you'll be able to see it.

September
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A much better month for us which saw us go unbeaten. Bradley Bubb continued his great scoring form, he's a very effective defensive forward and him and Kapend (playing as a poacher) are forming a lethal partnership already. However, the bore draw against 15th placed Concord Rangers was disappointing. But by the end of the month we were left sitting in second place a couple of points off of Wealdstone but also very close to Ebbsfleet (the villains of this save). It also left us on an 8 match unbeaten streak in the league, and we are still unbeaten at home. In fact, we haven't dropped a single home at Court Place Farm so far in the league. Hopefully that continues, we have to give our average home support of 236 something to cheer about . To finish the month we played Stratford in the second qualifying round. They gave a good fight and took it to a replay but at home I was able to win comfortably. I always love a cup run. Who knows?

The next few months should be up soon as well.

 

[EmZa]

Season 2015/16 Results - October/November

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So heading into October the question was, could we continue our good form? Sitting in second, unbeaten at home, and on an 8 game unbeaten run. Could the Oxford boys keep it up?
October
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The answer was a resounding yes! The league unbeaten run extended to 11 games. Two wins and a draw, including a 6-1 thrashing of Bishop's Stortford. After the Chelmsford game we were even in first for a week, but the draw with Margate, who are fellow title contenders, had us drop down to third. That's how close the league is. More importantly however for this month, we've made it into the FA cup! First be beating Vanarama North team Solihull Moors with a very solid home display, and then with a huge away win against Eastleigh who are a division above us! It was actually a very even game, and our counterattacking play and resilient defending payed off. Bradley Bubb had another solid month, along with our centre backs Andriu (our captain) and Arzamendi. Pifarre and Kapend both shined this month. But above all the others Sam Corcoran shined the brightest. Definitely his best month so far as he scored two goals and notched up several assists, picking up an average rating of 7.98 for the month, with two MOTM awards. Looking like a good loan so far for sure.

November
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And the unbeaten run continues (15 games now!). ****, if we'd started this earlier boys we could've gone for the Invincibles season! ^^) After four league wins out of for this month (and a manager of the month award to my name) we sit at the top of the table. Bradley Bubb keeps on scoring, and is quietly creeping up on Bishop Stortford's Michael Thalassitis at the top of the scoring charts. Luckily we played mostly lower table teams this month, but we did have a hard-fought 1-1 draw away to 2nd placed Ebbsfleet to ensure that we keep the gap between us. However, Ebbsfleet have dropped points very rarely this season so I'm afraid they could end up outlasting us, especially as they have more funds to tap into in January if need be. I got a win in the FA trophy which I don't really care about, but always nice for morale. In the first round of the FA Cup we were lucky to get Margate, who despite being a solid team, are from our league, so we were able to advance into the second round! The cup run is on, just one more win to get to the promised land of the third round! However, it'll be extremely difficult since we've been drawn to face Gillingham, a team 3 divisions above us in league 1. Our only hope is that we're welcoming them to the mighty Court Place Farm, where we are unbeaten this season. That game is coming up next month, should be a cracker! Come on the boys!

Until then (by which I mean tomorrow or possibly tonight).

 

[EmZa]

Season 2015/16 Results - December/January

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December:

Well we started off the month with a disappointing 0-0 home draw against last-placed Gosport. Not exactly a great warmup for the Gillingham match, but it did extend our unbeaten league run to 16 games, so that was a plus. But now it was time. Time for the biggest game of my short managerial career at Oxford City. We'd already had a great run, but would it end here at the hands of a team 3 whole divisions above us in the dizzying heights of League 1? Or would the fairytale run by this semi-professional team extend into the promised land of the third round? We'll that's certainly what the packed stadium at Court Place Farm was wondering. I pumped up the boys before the match. I didn't want to get thrashed and I had a sneaky feeling something could happen, because in the FA cup, anything can happen with a little luck.

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I simply have no words. What an absolutely incredible result. An cupset of epic proportions at the fortress of Court Place Farm! The boys defended like heroes all game, but we didn't just sit back. As you can see from the stats, we were very competitive. And we were rewarded when Carlos Pifarre tapped in a rebound and then a few minutes later crossed into the ever-dangerous Bradley Bubb for our Grenadien striker to head in. And we held on for 50 minutes to claim a famous win. After this win the boys were ecstatic, the whole club was in shock. And on that high we had our best month of the season so far...

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Four wins out of a possible five in the league left us first in the table by eight points. Our boys dealt magnificently with the busy Christmas schedule. It was only December but everyone around the club was feeling that possibility. That if we could hold out and keep playing well, we could be playing our football in the Vanarama National next year (or at least make the playoffs). Our unbeaten league run extended to an incredible 20 games. Particularly impressive was the win over Hemel Hempstead who were in 7th at the time. Also, a nice moment in the Weston-super-Mare match, where our young striker Vinny Mukendi, filling in for Kapend, scored his first senior goal. As you might have guessed it was a header. But at 6"7 with 20 jumping reach, what did you expect? We also recorded an impressive win against another higher division team in the FA trophy in the form of our 3-0 embarrassment of Kidderminster. Then came the FA cup 3rd round draw. I was hoping for an away trip to Old Trafford (I'm a United fan). But Anfield, The Emirates, or Stamford Bridge would do just as well. In the end we got Ipswich, a very good team but not at that top Premier League level. Still, it was an away game against a very good team. It would still help our revenue, the result isn't that important
January

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Well, our unbeaten run had to end at some point. A disappointing month by our standards. The loss against Maidenhead was unlucky but probably deserved for them as we definitely didn't play our best. Then we were thrashed 4-0 by Ipswich. Honestly, we were lucky it wasn't more but I never really expected something from the game. We did get a good bit of revenue though to keep our finances safely above water. Then a very disappointing bore draw against the new bottom placed team - Concord Rangers. What is it with us and not being able to beat the bottom teams? We just can't seem to break them down. In fact it's the second 0-0 draw I've had with Concord this season. Of all the teams not to score against, you wouldn't expect one with their goal difference well in the negatives, would you? We got back on track with two good wins over Hednesford and St. Albans, Bradley Bubb continuing his impressive form. But that little run ended abruptly with a poor away performance against 12th placed Whitehawk. All in all, poor month from us but we still sit top after Ebbsfleet dropped some points as well, although our lead is diminishing. Starting to get worried as it's really tight at the top and as I've come to realize, our squad depth is terrible, especially in the center of midfield. I probably should've made some more signings and it might end up costing us with teams outlasting us come March or April. But nothing has happened yet, have to keep a positive mindset! The one positive from this month is that we still haven't lost a competitive match at home this season. The fortress stands strong!

P.S. There were no incoming transfers in January as no one really wanted to join. However, we did sell Paulo Mendes, an attacking midfielder who hasn't feature much, to Buxton for 1K. He wasn't good enough for the team and we did well to get a fee at all although it was probably a bit silly selling him when we're short in the center, but oh well!

The next update will be coming soon. Again, any feedback is appreciated!

 

[kab0409]

Looks like a difficult save, good luck!

 

[EmZa]

Looks like a difficult save, good luck!

Thanks mate! It's tough but I'm really enjoying it. Definitely some work needed before we can start shooting up the leagues. The squad is very rough but some gems in there for sure.

 

[EmZa]

Season 2015/16 Results - February/March

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February
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Decent month for us. We started off with a good win against Wealdstone, who are pushing for the playoffs this year. Unfortunately in that game, our on loan star striker Kapend twisted his ankle and was ruled out for 6-7 weeks. As a result we had to play the only other striker we had alongside Bradley Bubb; Vinny Mukendi. Standing at 6"7 you can guess He would be playing as a target man. And in the first round of the FA trophy he impressed immediately, scoring a lovely finish into the top corner to take a draw against 5th division Eastleigh. Great feet from the big man! We then played Eastleigh for what would be the third time this season and unfortunately just couldn't hold them off. Although it would've been nice to go further in the competition it gives us a chance to focus completely on the league and a loss against a higher ranked team isn't bad. But then came the crucial game. Ebbsfleet were only four points behind us so it was crucial not to lose here or our position would start getting increasingly pressured. Thankfully we were able to pull off a 2-2 draw at home (still unbeaten there!) and keep them at bay. In fact we were disappointed not to win as Danny Haynes scored their equalizer in the 92nd minute and we led twice in the game. But a draw will do just fine. Also, another goal from Vinny Mukendi in that game really gave me something to think about once Kapend returns. We ended the month with a solid win against Maidstone and a disappointing bore draw against 23rd place Gosport. Thankfully Ebbsfleet dropped points as well so we stayed at the top reasonably comfortably.

March

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Absolutely BRILLIANT month from the boys. Our squad is small and along with some injuries it's hard to have everyone fit for the games, but it doesn't matter when you're playing like this! Sam Corcoran played very well, as he has all season since coming in on loan and has performed well in right midfield. I'll be hoping to tie him down permanently come Summer for sure. Bradley Bubb and Carlos Pifarre were both at their very best this month and helped us to four wins in 5 league games, including a 4-0 thrashing of 4th place Basingstoke with four different goalscorers! (Arsene Wenger's dream right there). The draw against Margate wasn't bad either considering they were in 5th place and are one of the highest scoring teams this season. The only bad thing to come out of this month is that a couple of our key players refuse to sign new contracts. Those are our three important Spaniards; centreback pairing Andriu and Arzamendi, as well as our best player, Pifarre. I'm becoming increasingly worried as to whether we can keep them as they are all saying that our club doesn't match their ambitions. Hopefully we can gain promotion and prove them wrong! Not to hopeful about Pifarre though, his report now says he's a good player for LEAGUE 2 which is incredible. I wouldn't be surprised if he left and there's not much I can do about it. However, our favorite Grenadien Bradley Bubb did sign a new contract and we will look forward to seeing his goals for another season.

Sitting in first at this stage with only five or six games to go gives me real hope that this team can end up champions at the end of the season, which would be quite the achievement for a team that has never been above the 6th tier in its history!

Next Update will be the end of season and season review. Don't worry, there will be league tables and as soon as next season starts there will be league tables at the end of every month. Stay tuned!

 

[EmZa]

End of Season 2015/16 - April Results + Season Review

April

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Decent month. We started off with a poor loss against Bishop's Stortford who played a lot better than us and possess the top scorer in the league in Michael Thalassitis. Then we went back to winning ways with two very important results against H&Y and Truro. The H&Y match especially was very dramatic, and the 4-2 scoreline definitely flattered us because we scored two in extra time, including a horror own goal by Mambo where he headed a cross into his own net. We then went into the Hemel Hampstead game 6 points ahead of Ebbsfleet with vastly superior goal difference. We did lose, but so did Ebbsfleet, meaning that we were pretty much guaranteed champions! I ended up playing a weakend lineup in my last two games and we got some ok draws. Here is the final league table:

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Brilliant from the lads to go up on the first go. Hopefully this is the first of many promotions on the road to eventual Premier League glory. Given the stature of our team this is huge for us, and even leaves me worried for our finances next season. Will our squad be able to keep up with the big boys in the National? We don't have enough money to even build a stadium that meets the regulations so we're asking to hold off for a year. But those are worries for another time. For now we can enjoy this victory. And enjoy this; Ebbsfleet got absolutely SMASHED 6-1 on aggregate against Basingstoke in the Playoff Semi! Dartford eventually went up with us to the National.

Here are some final screenshots from the season:
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As you can see, our whole squad performed at an extremely high level. But Carlos Pifarre stood above the rest. He was an absolute revelation on the left wing, contributing 14 goals and 12 assists for a 7.42 average rating and fully and in my eyes fully deserved player of the season (apparently he's a leading player for League 2 now!). At striker, Bubb and Kapend formed a ruthless partnership that accounted for 49 of our league goals alone. In the center of midfield, the under appreciated Ander del Alamo was solid as a rock, as was the hardworking Sam Corcoran on the right wing. At fullbacks, Joxetso and Benjamin were both crucial bombing up the wings. Although not up there in the top ratings Andriu and Arzamendi were a centreback partnership to be reckoned with and were the reason we conceded the least goals in the league with some crucial tackles and blocks. And last but not least Laurie Walker in goal. He might have conceded some howlers once in a while, but at the crucial moments produced some incredible flying saves to keep us in games.


Contracts
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Finally some great, great news that I honestly didn't expect. Arzamendi and Pifarre agreed to sign new contracts. They both said they had higher ambitions but in the end our promotion must have convinced them. I'm delighted that these two will be staying for at least another two seasons and am certain they will be crucial to our chances in the National.


Season Review:

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Great season from us, although limited the whole squad worked admirably all season and completely overachieved. The run to the third round of the FA cup was a particular highlight and that 2-0 win over Gillingham will long live in the memories of the City faithful. The signings were also successful in my eyes, Kapend being great goalscorer on loan and I will look to tie him up for another season at Court Place Farm. Neil Barret was a solid acquisition in that ball winning midfield role, although it looks like he will be retiring at the end of next season. Sam Corcoran was also great and has agreed to sign permanently.

The next update will cover the Summer transfers and the August and September results in the Vanarama National. As always, any feedback is greatly appreciated. See you next season!