Still early days yet, but I'm having a solid season with Plymouth Argyle.
Backstory - They start the game in debt, have suffered two successive relegations and are now in League Two, 11 of their 22 first team players are 19 or younger, they don't field a reserve team anymore and the average sqaud morale is abysmal.
Board expectations - They believe you should be able to finish mid-table and that you should just show face in the various cups (1st Round in the League Cup, 2nd Round in the FA Cup and 2nd Round in the Paint Trophy).
Season so far - At the start I fired my regen assistant manager and replaced him with John Moring, a respectable and experienced assistant. I also restructured the deals of club legend Romain Larrieu and club icon/coach Carl Fletcher. Between the two I saved 4,650 pounds. The only squad additions were free agent rightback Trent McClenahan (he has recent experience in the Scottish SPL) for 1,800 p/w, veteran free agent forward Pablo Counago for 1,900 p/w, promising free agent GK Dean Bouzanis and promising right/centreback Steve Cook on loan for 3 months from Brighton & Hove. To further save money I do not start legendary 'keeper Romain Larrieu, instead playing Jake Cole, who earns 200 pounds less per week, 160 pounds less per appearance and 120 pounds less per clean sheet. As it is Romain Larrieu is only fractionally better, so I can live with the minimal decrease in ability in favour of the significant savings in money. In League Two you play as many as 3 league games per week so I can save as little as 1,080 pounds to as much as 1,440 pounds per week by playing Cole over Larrieu all the while seeing no noticeable difference in performance.
Soon after starting the season the club was sold. The debts were restructured so instead of being listed as "in debt" I am now just "insecure", but still having to pay off 16,5 million pounds of debt. As a bit of interest the clubs is only worth 2,5 million pounds.
After 19 league games I am sitting 5th on 35 points and firmly in playoff contention. After a slowish start - mostly due to poor away form - I am now one of the strongest teams having scored more goals than any other team and having only just suffered my first home league defeat in 10 games. Even more impressive have been my cup runs. I defeated League One Colchester United away in the 1st round of the League Cup before losing 1-0 away to Championship side Hull City after a 114th minute winner. I am now in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup (where I will be at home to Charlton Athletic) after defeating League Two Cheltenham in Round 1 and then proceeding to beat my fierce rivals Exeter City 2-1 away in the 2nd round. Exeter are also a League One team. As for the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, I have made the South Area final where I will face Charlton Athletic over two legs for a chance to go to Wembley.
The cup runs have been worth 95,000 pounds in prize money for the team, which has been invaluabe considering the financial state of the club.
Pablo Counago is also in fine form, having smashed home 18 goals in 23 appearances, including 14 goals in 15 league games. Another player doinh well is CB Curtis Nelson. He is 18 and played so well that he was called up to the England U19 national team and is now a regular. The sad downside is that his 600 pound p/w deal expires in 2012 and when I tried to renew it he now wants 3,100 pounds p/w, something the club cannot afford. On the whole almost all of my youngsters are playing well. 17-year old right winger Jed Harper-Penman leads the league in dribbles per match and has been providing Counago with lethal service from the right flank.
Backstory - They start the game in debt, have suffered two successive relegations and are now in League Two, 11 of their 22 first team players are 19 or younger, they don't field a reserve team anymore and the average sqaud morale is abysmal.
Board expectations - They believe you should be able to finish mid-table and that you should just show face in the various cups (1st Round in the League Cup, 2nd Round in the FA Cup and 2nd Round in the Paint Trophy).
Season so far - At the start I fired my regen assistant manager and replaced him with John Moring, a respectable and experienced assistant. I also restructured the deals of club legend Romain Larrieu and club icon/coach Carl Fletcher. Between the two I saved 4,650 pounds. The only squad additions were free agent rightback Trent McClenahan (he has recent experience in the Scottish SPL) for 1,800 p/w, veteran free agent forward Pablo Counago for 1,900 p/w, promising free agent GK Dean Bouzanis and promising right/centreback Steve Cook on loan for 3 months from Brighton & Hove. To further save money I do not start legendary 'keeper Romain Larrieu, instead playing Jake Cole, who earns 200 pounds less per week, 160 pounds less per appearance and 120 pounds less per clean sheet. As it is Romain Larrieu is only fractionally better, so I can live with the minimal decrease in ability in favour of the significant savings in money. In League Two you play as many as 3 league games per week so I can save as little as 1,080 pounds to as much as 1,440 pounds per week by playing Cole over Larrieu all the while seeing no noticeable difference in performance.
Soon after starting the season the club was sold. The debts were restructured so instead of being listed as "in debt" I am now just "insecure", but still having to pay off 16,5 million pounds of debt. As a bit of interest the clubs is only worth 2,5 million pounds.
After 19 league games I am sitting 5th on 35 points and firmly in playoff contention. After a slowish start - mostly due to poor away form - I am now one of the strongest teams having scored more goals than any other team and having only just suffered my first home league defeat in 10 games. Even more impressive have been my cup runs. I defeated League One Colchester United away in the 1st round of the League Cup before losing 1-0 away to Championship side Hull City after a 114th minute winner. I am now in the 3rd Round of the FA Cup (where I will be at home to Charlton Athletic) after defeating League Two Cheltenham in Round 1 and then proceeding to beat my fierce rivals Exeter City 2-1 away in the 2nd round. Exeter are also a League One team. As for the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, I have made the South Area final where I will face Charlton Athletic over two legs for a chance to go to Wembley.
The cup runs have been worth 95,000 pounds in prize money for the team, which has been invaluabe considering the financial state of the club.
Pablo Counago is also in fine form, having smashed home 18 goals in 23 appearances, including 14 goals in 15 league games. Another player doinh well is CB Curtis Nelson. He is 18 and played so well that he was called up to the England U19 national team and is now a regular. The sad downside is that his 600 pound p/w deal expires in 2012 and when I tried to renew it he now wants 3,100 pounds p/w, something the club cannot afford. On the whole almost all of my youngsters are playing well. 17-year old right winger Jed Harper-Penman leads the league in dribbles per match and has been providing Counago with lethal service from the right flank.
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