Right so, when FM 2021 was first released I started a save with Bradford City (as you probably gathered) and eventually I got them to the promoted to the Premier League to play in the 2026/2027 season. Getting out of the Championship is no joke! I thought I would share my progress so far and then continue posting updates about the save and anything intriguing that occurs in the saves' universe.
Manager Profile:
50% win percentage isn't too bad considering i now have to deal with going through runs of taking L's, I'll show my fixtures in the next post. Mourinho as an adversary... of course, we don't put busses on football pitches. Different mentality if you ask me.
Club history:
It is fair to say that before I took charge, Bradford haven't won many trophies at all. 4 trophies in 117 years in fact! The English Third Division North, Sky Bet League One, Sky Bet Championship and an FA Cup. These honours were mostly won between 1900-1910 with the last trophy (League One) coming in 1985. The club had last been in the Premier League during the 2000/2001 season where they finished bottom of the league, picking up only 26 pts. Fyi, we currently have 27 pts going into February. Since I took charge we have added a Sky Bet League Two (2021), Sky Bet League One (2023) and a Sky Bet Championship (2026) to the trophy cabinet. We currently sit 14th in the Premier League.
This was a great first season and way to set the tone of the save by stepping up and meeting the level of the opposition. We won the league title by 3pts, not overly impressive but the boys got the job done. I couldn't complain. I remember the season started well and we went on a little unbeaten run. We had a little wobble around Christmas but luckily we didn't drop the turkey. Once we were assured of ourselves again with a familiar starting XI (and with the help of my good friend team bonding), we delivered the title to the fans, only losing 2 of our last 14 games.
As you can see I sold Richards-Everton as he was only a squad player in a position we already had a few decent options for our level, plus I felt i needed the money in order to reinvest in solid rotation players for other positions, which I did through free transfers coupled with a few loans as the first team already had a good foundation and needed more reliable cover, rather than a whole new starting XI. A few players are still in the squad this season, although they don't get the minutes they used to in the football league, Callum Cooke and Folarin Balogun played in the first season and are in the squad this season in the Premier League and Alex Palmer who joined summer 2021, on loan initially, went on to become my starting 'keeper for me going up the football league.
Sky Bet League One | 2021/2022:
Our first season in League One and we finish 4th. I was actually very happy with this but obviously once the playoffs were drawn I convinced myself that getting promoted would be the best result. We played Coventry in the semi finals and lost both legs 1-0. The fact they went on to get promoted does make me feel a bit better about losing to them. Being honest though, it was probably good we didn't get promoted this season as the players needed that extra year to develop so they can adapt to the level that we would subsequently play in. We had a fairly consistent season but with us drawing so many games we didn't have a chance of finishing in the top 2, considering Wycombe went on a rampage to win the title with ease. *mind the gap*
This season we changed to the trusty 4-2-3-1 but it really came into its own in the next season. This season saw us acquire a lot of players and have a large turnaround. The clubs finances were not the best so it was imperative to sell players on for profit. A few squad players like, Charlie Gilmour and Stefan O'Connor were sold on who I thought didn't ever have much chance of holding down a place in the starting lineup. After this season I realised that if we wanted to progress through the divisions I would have to slowly phase out the players at the club who the coaches and I thought wouldn't be good enough to make the step up to the Championship. However, out of the crop we bought into the club, Ryan Cassidy, Brendon Galloway and Callum Doyle survived to be in the current day squad.
The 2022/2023 season was just a great season. We lost 6 games all season and only one of those came after December. We had a very settled first XI with players on the bench who I knew I could bring on and they could get a goal to change the direction of a game. Ryan Cassidy had scored 34 goals last season (yes, admittedly I forgot to mention that in the last post), this year he popped up with 32 which was incredible. What made the difference was the signings of Aiden Fitzpatrick (honestly my MVP for the save so far he has been class) and Liam Millar who both got double figures in goals. Millar was signed in January and that season scored 10 goals in 12 games! I was just glad we didn't have the drama of the playoffs again, that was for sure.
The media call it wheeling and dealing, some may even call it the 'Redknapp way'. I did not intend on buying and selling so many players but some players were not up to the standard to be playing for the club anymore and they needed replacing. Also, this was the first year I properly considered getting some younger talent into the club but to be honest, not many of the players i bought amounted to anything for me, most were sold on for profit. The main bit of transfer news was the 240k purchase of Alex Palmer, who impressed me when he was on loan to me last year, when the opportunity arose to get in a potential Championship quality keeper in this early, I just couldn't say no.
Just a solid performance from all the boys that year and then just letting a few of the forward players showcasing their ability to take their chances. Even Conor Washington was getting on the scoresheet a few times. The tactic was starting to take shape and we were able to start dominating teams by pressing them high & intensely and then keeping the ball, working it into the wide areas for some easyyy tap ins... well that's how it works in theory anyway! Going into the Championship I knew it was going to be difficult, we were definitely in the bottom 3 in terms of expenditure on player salary so my aim was to survive and then plot how I was going to break into the promise land that beckoned with one more promotion!
Sky Bet Championship | 2023/2024:
12th out of 24 teams isn't terrible for our first season in the second division of England. We got our revenge for the playoff semi final defeat against Coventry as they were relegated back to League One. I think we needed the next summer in order to get some more quality in certain positions in the squad, while also allowing some players in the first team to get the experience they needed in order to develop. At times there was a bit of a gulf in class between the teams towards the top and this is probably evident by the 20 losses we suffered! The step up was noticeable, especially with the fixture congestion around December & January, as by late February / early March we suffered 6 losses on the bounce *eeek*. We welcomed the end of the season and the summer break with open arms.
Luke Dreher and TJ Eyoma were both great signings who came straight into the first team and they're both still in the squad today. Dreher and Cooke developed a great partnership in the centre of the park and as you'll see in future posts, in keeping the core of the squad the same we have created great continuity and atmosphere off the pitch, with great links on the pitch too. Also, Kelechi Nwakali deserves an honourable mention for helping us get into the Premier League playing in the AM role, as he impressed in 2023/2024.
A lot of players going out on loan here! We had a number of young players who needed experience so we sent them out. Callum Doyle was sent out for a few years on loan and is still in the squad as a backup for the time-being. But gaining £2.5 million overall was a nice touch. Admittedly, a good portion came after the season ended with the sale of Liam Millar to Portsmouth for £1.6m as he didn't set the world alight and the club needed to capitalise on good opportunities to increase revenue, so the sale was authorised. The decision to sell Owen Hesketh to Barnsley for £300k was the biggest gamble of the year in my eyes. He was a fairly young player who had potential but I just wasn't sure he would live up to how my coaches were gassing him up. I feel like it proved to be the right decision as Barnsley are now trying to ship him off 4 years later for £80k!
So I know I signed a few loan players for the club but at this point we didn't have to finances to buy Championship ready players, we had to either buy younger players to develop or sign some players on loan so I decided to do both. The good thing about it though, is that a lot of these loan players were eventually snapped up by us, so that's my way of justifying it! Anyway back to the boys. It was again a settled squad with some players performing especially well. Connor Wood, for example, starts with the club in 2020 and in League Two, but he played out of his skin this season, averaging a 7.05 with 13 assists in the league. Looking at the stats now, there was a nice spread of players chipping in with the goals and although Cassidy was the main man, the rotation options in Samuel, Millar and Cullen contributed enough. This was definitely a promising sign to me and I thought next season would be pivotal in the direction of the save as I potentially thought about leaving as I was starting to receive some serious offers from teams who had much better finances. But there was no way I could leave now!
Yeah, I was happy with this. A big improvement on last season and we were very close to getting promoted, making it the playoff final! It was unfortunate we wasn't able to get over the line. We started the season off great with wins in our first 4 games of the season, but once it hit March we seemed to have just run out of steam and it wasn't too much of a surprise that we didn't put in a winning performance in the playoff final. I had a very set team defensively, it was going forward where we rotated, we was a quality permanent striker from having a fully cohesive starting lineup.
Being honest, we deserved to loose on the day as we were well beaten on the stats. The fact we beat Brentford on the last day as well does make it that little more annoying, but they enjoyed more quality players than I possessed and reaped the benefits. Also, our journey to the final of the playoffs was dramatic to say the least as we progressed with our 9th penalty taker scoring the winner!
This was a good window but signing another attacker in January after getting money for selling a defender thinking I could get promoted is something I probably shouldn't have done! Aiden Fitzpatrick, Folarin Balogun and Kelechi Nwakali were a trio of great free transfers who had already played for us on loan. As I've already mentioned Fitzpatrick has been the player who has performed for me most since I first got him in on a free and onto our right wing at Bradford City. As for the outs... £2 million for our backup centre forward was a fair valuation, so the offer was accepted, as Samuel was ageing and didn't have the current ability to be in the long term picture. The rest of the money was made up from selling a backup CB in Bernard to Charlton for £450k, loans and selling Bevis Mugabi to Oxford for £110k in January
Aside from my front 4, (well Fitzpatrick was a shoe-in as my RW) my team was set and they all performed to a good level while also having a few key players who could change the game for us. Sanchez was out on the left getting assists while Fitzpatrick was on the right carrying the constant threat of either getting a goal or assist. Our AM position was one that was up for grabs going into our third season the
Championship. In our CF role we had good options this season, securing Louie Barry and Breyton Fougeu on loan with Balogun as a back up who also got minutes on the LW. There was a spread among the goals with Barry starting the season on fire but he struggled to retain that good start and found himself on the bench for much of the second half of the season. Once Fougeu hit the ground running at around the half way stage in the season, he quickly became the main goal threat in the side and ended on 21 goals in the league, which earned him a very happy manager!
WOW! I was so happy to get over the line and see the season through to the final game of the season to collect the trophy. This was a defensively solid season for us, only conceding 40 goals. We made some great signings before the season started which will be shown later in the post. Luckily this season there wasn't a runaway leader so we just had to remain consistent and I think winning 30 games suggests we done as such. Being truthful, I don't think the squad is Premier League quality but we work hard on the pitch, we can only play what's infront of us and we aim to win every match.
We completed great transfer business in both windows. Luke Woolfenden, Luke Connolly and Miguel Dabó came straight into the first team and they hit the round running, with the defenders playing at a consistent level throughout the season. Dabó, 21 at time of transfer, was picked up after the Inverted WInger (Left) was released from FC Porto. And how could I not mention the return of the man, the myth, the legend that is Ryan Cassidy. I decided to smash the Bradford City transfer record to pay £5.5 million for the Irish Advanced Forward and since he had previously played for the club on loan, he was naturally my starting striker and he repaid the faith I had shown in him. Wanted to also mention Sandi Djukic, 18 at time of transfer, the Slovenian Deep Lying Playmaker was a steal at £3.1 million. I put him into the first team straight away as he has good mentals and great technique, so he has developed a good bit and currently starts for us, which is great, hopefully his progress continues with more minutes and we'll have a good little prospect on our hands.
So, I decided that this season I would cash in on my assets that I had from League One up in order to reinvest in signing good younger players. Leonardo Michel was a 20 year-old, at time of transfer, centre midfield prospect that was purchased for £15k and sold for £4.5 million! Thats good business, as my coaches deemed him as a potential Championship quality player, I was fine with selling him on when he became unhappy over a lack of playing time for the first team. We sold a few other squad players that were no longer of the quality to be with the club on the next step of it's journey, so we said goodbye to Liam Cullen, Charlie Allen, Cyriaque Mayounga, Jonathan De Bie and Reece Staunton.
These were the boys who got us to the promise-land! They had done so well over the course of the season I was proud of them all. Moving Sanchez to centre attacking midfield was tactical genius as he got assist after assist, he ended the season with 15 but could've got more as he faded considerably in the second half of the season. Dabó played the majority of the games on the left but David Arconada came into good form in the latter stage of the season so they both deserved a shout out. Tom Pearce at left back also deserves a mention, he played class this season, notching up 9 assists and he was an ever-present in defence. However... I was under no illusions that I had to get some Premier League quality into the squad if I want a chance of staying up as we wasn't going to be able to go to Old Trafford and play 4-2-3-1 and try to dominate the ball, we just have to pick our moments to play, perhaps. But any future league standings weren't important right now as we had a transfer window to complete before we get started in the Premier League.
I was absolutely ecstatic with the promotion, but the hard work had only just begun! Realistically, I just wanted to stay up this season so we could line our purse and then use the financial gain to reinvest in the clubs facilities as there have been no upgrades to the training ground since I had arrived. It's fair to say that during my tenure as manager of the Bantams, we hadn't really been on a memorable cup run, with our longest cup run saw us reach the fifth round of the FA Cup in the previous two seasons. This is honestly the reason why more investments haven't been made, but better late than never, ay!
Anyway, lets get into the transfers, first, the outs...
So... yet again a busy window. I seem to have a habit in this years' FM, where I keep having a large turnover of players, but hey, it's worked well for me so far. At the end of last season I really wanted to give the players who had done the impossible a chance, but when I looked at the teams of the mid-table Premier League teams, they were vastly better. Also, when I looked at my squad with my realism hat on, my squad players just wouldn't be able to compete, so changes were needed.
Lets start with the three most expensive fees. Luke Woolfenden was our starting CB so when he kicked up a fuss that I didn't play him as a Ball Playing CB, I was a little shocked. Ok, ok, I may have forgot that I promised to play him in that role when I signed him but he was playing as a regular CB, I didn't want a BTEC John Stones who could give the ball away, I just wanted him to mark, tackle and head the ball away. Modern players, ay! So, he asked to leave and I wasn't going to stand in his way considering he was injury prone not up to Premier League quality unfortunately. I thought we recouped a decent fee for him from Stoke, so Luke's chapter with the club came to an end. Kelechi Nwakali was a player I had a little soft spot for but ultimately this is a cut throat business and he wasn't good enough and I needed to utilise every penny I could muster. I wasn't exactly buzzing with the fee, but it was the highest we received for him but he needed first team football so hopefully once he retires he can come back in a staffing role. And then, the sale of Charlie McCann to Sunderland. He was an ageing young player (I say this with Lingard in mind, I won't lie lmao) but he never developed how I thought he could so it was an easy decision to move him on so he can get some regular football... finally. Finally, I want to give an honourable mention to Liam Burt. Every manager has a player in every save that isn't the best but always plays better than he 'should', which makes you warm to him. Liam was that guy for me. Versatile and always gave a solid performance, but he really wasn't Premier League quality so I let his contract run down, I didn't want to profit off my boy. Yeah, we have morals on this page !
Now, the in's...
Right then, next post I will put up the profiles of some of the best young players we've signed. By that you have probably gathered that this year I was targeting young players who would get game time to develop and if we got relegated, they can be part of the journey and develop or we can flip them for profit like a commodity.
Let's start from the top. Corujo came in on a free, absolute steal and arguably the best bit of business I've done. He is an 18 year-old GK from Uruguay and is currently sitting on 9 caps for the senior national side, he was going straight into the first team. Next up, Manquillo came in as we needed better quality at RB and, being truthful, I took the cheap option in bringing him in. Now we move onto Maldonado ! We absolutely smashed our transfer record to bring him in and he looks like a class little 21 year-old CF, who again, went straight into the first team. Alex Kirk returned to the club on a permanent this time and provides good and trustworthy depth to the squad. Lucas was next in. 22 year-old Inverted RW, had a low release clause and my scouts said he had Premier League potential, so we managed to lure him to the club as a squad player. Sissako and Basic came in to bolster our options at CM and bring experience to the squad, but they've both performed better than others in the squad so they're starting atm. Abramovic came in from Dinamo. A 20 year-old pacey RW who hopefully can develop with us, although my coaches are saying his personality type could get in the way... I wait with baited breathe. Azeez was picked up after being released from Arsenal and we immediately loaned him out. He was some good potential but his age could be his downfall... I thought he was worth the punt. On the same day, we agreed a deal to sign Julian Valencia, an 18 year-old CM, who is currently being retrained as a RW. He's got great potential and I'll be keeping him in-and-around the first team this season. Late in the summer window I came across a Spanish CB who looked good enough to replace Woolfenden, who wanted out. He is definitely adding quality to that position and came into the starting XI. And finally, in January Romeu Pericles joined the club on a free. He's a good CM prospect, 6ft 4, who could be retrained as a CB or DM and worst case scenario with these young players is they don't play well and we sell them on for profit.
So that was our transfer business for our first Premier League season. Now let's take a look at the league table to see how we're doing so far...
Ok, so 26 games gone and we're in 15th. Not bad. I'm looking to push up the table as its quite tight in the bottom half but we need to pick up some points soon as our end of season run in isn't exactly favourable. I am fully expecting Spurs to change their fortunes around and climb the table, but I'm hopeful that we will beat the drop. Man Utd though, jheez, there is no stopping them. Their team is out of this world and they're strolling over the line with the title in hand.
From now on I'm going to be posting monthly updates from now. I'll be starting off in February (I've already played two of the three games, that's why 26 games have been played) and hopefully we can finish the season strong.
P.S. If people want to see anything outside of Bradford City in my save, like past Premier League winners, then feel free to suggest. Also I'm very new to writing and posting on here so any advice / tips would be greatly appreciated!
A good young GK, signed on a free. Absolute steal. He still has room to grow and the fact he's starting for us this year, and the senior Uruguay national team will be great for his development. Plus, he has faced a lot of shots this season and has performed to a fairly good standard so far. The only downside is he could be a few inches taller, but hey, this isn't Tinder! Also, his distribution for a sweeper keeper could be better but he's only 19 and I play distribute to either CB / FB so that should negate this issue.
2. Romeu Pericles
I was pretty happy with this signing as there was a few teams interested in bringing him in so I rushed to get the deal over the line. He's got decent mentals and physicals but his technicals need some improving, but that's fine with me. I'm hoping to keep him around the first team and train him as a DM, while playing for the u23's, with the view to loan him out next season. Now let's address the elephant in the room... his unambitious personality. I was extremely surprised considering his 16 determination and his performances for Brazil's u20's , but maybe with some tutoring this will improve (not entirely sure if that will work though) but I feel he was definitely worth the chance.
3. Sandi Djukic
Now this guy is quickly growing me. His mentals are great (excluding leadership) and with 17 technique, I know Sandi will develop nicely at the club. I want to give him game time to grow into his potential as well. He came to the club last season and hasn't set the Premier League on fire but I can let it slide this season, providing I see improvements in his performances next season. And obviously, with his media description being 'wonderkid' how could I not be a little excited!
4. Julian Valencia
Valenica was bought for £725k and although his value has not increased now, I am certain it will in the future. Being honest, I see this kid being developed and then sold on for profit as he has some OK technicals but his physicals are what made him stand out to me. He is currently being retrained as a RW as I want to utilise his pace and acceleration. For now he is training with the first team but plays regular for the u23's to develop.
5. Eugen Abramovic
Eugen looks to me like he could be a great prospect for the club. A pacey RW who can dribble the ball well, right now though, it is his end product that is holding him back. Furthermore, we already have Fitzpatrick as our starting RW who has performed for the club season in, season out, making it hard to justify starting Abramovic. However, he hasn't exactly played terribly so this fills me with confidence going forward, that we have good options on the right hand side of our attack.
6. Jairo Maldonado
Maldonado was my big summer signing and at 22 I think we've got ourselves a great little player at Bradford City. Absolutely class physicals and decent enough mentals for an attacker. If we can get him to improve on his finishing then I have confidence that he can deliver for us in the Premier League. Maldonado came straight in to the starting team as the focal point of the attack and he's already got 9 goals for us so far in the league, but I know this guy can perform to an even higher standard. I am training him as a false 9, just to offer us more diversity, as well as potentially allowing us to play with two strikers in the future.
Ok, I may have forgotten to include the fixture list in the previous post 'the story so far'. This post is going to be the month of February, but first, I will show the results we've encountered this season up until January.
Premier League:
So as you can see most of the games have been close encounters, aside from when we play the more reputable teams in the division. Obviously a lot of red, especially recently. We seem to just be getting edged out, I'd honestly take some more 0-0 results if it means we survive! However, would just like to point out one positive so far this season... we've got 4 / 6 points available against Chelsea, which I'm proud of the boys for! Our last three games of the season are against; Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal!! So we need to get back to getting points on the board before it becomes too late.
Cup competitions:
Errrm, yeah absolutely terrible! No beating around the bush, my squad players really let me down in the cup competitions this year... moving swiftly onto February.
There was only three games this month so I'll run through the games individually and then review the month as a whole at the end.
1. vs Leeds | 03/02/2027
This is the team selected for the game. We had an injury to Manquillo so Eyoma came in to start, and he did so for every game this month. Both my right wingers were in form so I decided to play the more experienced Fitzpatrick on the left.
A 1-1 draw. Not the end of the world, but looking at the match stats and it shows a frustrating game that I am viewing as 2 points dropped rather than 1 point gained. The spine of our team performed good, for the most part. It seemed that the right side of our team was not functioning as well as I know it can. However, our domination of the ball and superior xG gave me some confidence going into the next game, that we could get back to winning ways!
2. vs Wolves | 06/02/2027
I decided to keep the team relatively similar due to how the team performed in the last match. I decided to bring in Dabo to the LW, as he is my normal starting player for this position. I would say this is probably my strongest lineup, aside from Eyoma at RB.
I was slightly disappointed that we couldn't hold on for a 1-1 draw here, but the xG paints a more accurate picture of the game and I think we honestly deserved the loss. The rest of the stats were fairly even on face value, I just think we lack the cutting edge up front to really put our chances away. Although, saying this, I was happy to see Dabo come into the team and score for us, as well as, Basic performing to a consistent level. However, I can't be too hard on the lads as they gave Wolves a good go and had we had more days off between the games, some of our better performing players would have been able to play the full 90.
3. vs Everton | 22/02/2027
Just to add some context / behind the scenes if you would, this was the first game I had played since I started uploading this save (way to break the fourth wall!). I made some changes to the team and also changed the formation to play a DM, instead of an AM due to the attacking threat of Everton. The players who came into the team were the ones who had the best form in the previous five games. As good as Everton were, at home, I'd give us a chance against most.
Arrgghh! Another frustrating game, finishing in another loss. We were getting dominated in the first half, but the majority of the shots Everton were having were from outside the area and were not accurate. They scored a well worked goal on the break but just hard work alone won't win games. In the second half I decided to switch back to our regular 4-2-3-1, going positive and raising our line of engagement. This resulted in a much better performance. We created more chances and used the ball better to get our full backs into the game higher up the pitch. However, our top scorer got injured early in the second half and we lost our clinical touch in the final third. Dabo and Fitzpatrick had chances, late in the game to salvage a point but it wasn't to be.
Overview
Overall, this was a month of if, buts and maybe's. I hope we don't look back at the end of the season and rue these missed opportunities to turn losses into draws. I think sitting back and inviting teams onto us is not wise, I think our best bets of getting a result is pressing high and trying to dominate possession as a means to improve our attack and defence. Our next match is against Spurs, who have slipped into the relegation places and sit 18th. If we can beat a relegation rival and concurrently start March off well, I think we will have a decent shot at staying up. Sit tight and enjoy the ride, ladies and gentlemen!
Again we had a short month of fixtures, but the three teams were played were all around us in the table. These games were going to be pivotal in determining whether we would be playing Premier League football next season!
Before the month even started our top goal scorer twisted his ankle and would be out for 3-5 weeks. Not a good start at all as we have often struggled for goals so I debated whether to park the bus and play to not lose or just go for it. We started the month with a tough challenge against Spurs who, despite being 18th in the league, managed to progress into the Europa League quarter finals!
Game 1. vs Tottenham | 07/03/2027
A few familiar faces came into the starting lineup, with Dreher replacing Djukic who had experienced a dip in form, Cassidy also replaced the injured Maldonado. As well as this, we welcomed back Manquillo who returned from injury to replace Eyoma, and last but not least Callum Doyle got his chance to impress in this game and showcase why he should get a run of starts. Our other CB's Galloway and Kirk had not performed that great in recent matches and Doyle has been solid when called upon, so I decided to roll the dice. Because it was a home game, coupled with how abysmal Tottenham's league form had been, I thought it best to go with our more assertive 4-2-3-1 formation.
This was a good point to collect but **** it we had them on the ropes in the second half and probably should've capitalised on our dominance. McKennie scored with the first shot of the game, with a bit of help from the crossbar. I really did not hold out much hope for the game after that start! Cassidy was having a hard time holding the ball up and bringing the rest of the team into the game but as the half went on we began to gain some confidence with some half chances. At HT, Cassidy was withdraw, with Lucas moving to the left wing (as a left footer to give us more width) and Abramovic moved to CF. With more dynamic players on the pitch I decided to press Spurs more instead of retreating when surrendering possession and we wanted to play more forward balls, even if that meant the passing ranges increased. I'd say it worked... we came out positive and got a goal around the hour mark. From then on, it was all Bradford City. We even went attacking for the final 15mins as I thought we could ****** a winner, but it wasn't to be. This gave me encouragement going into our next game.
Game 2. vs Fulham | 15/03/2027
Ok, I must confess... my laptop decided to disobey my instructions and not screenshot my screen, but unless it comes to life and starts losing FM games for me it's not the end of the world for me to get the starting team from after the game, this time.
This was the lineup to start the game. It was the same team that finished the Tottenham game, aside from Dabo who I had faith in to turn around his poor form (but as you can see it went down like a lead ballon) . This was probably my most in-from players for their positions and I was feeling confident heading into West London for the game.
Considering you've seen the ratings for our back five, this was the result you probably expected! But that takes nothing away from how pleased I was with this 2-0 win. Fulham by far had the most clear cut chances in a pretty stale first half. A tactical change was in order for the second half. Fitzpatrick was moved onto the left wing, Abramovic onto the right with Lochereau-Pho replacing Dabo to play CF. Both our wingers scored in quick succession, with Fitzpatrick scoring very early in the second half. Once it hit 60 mins, we were starting to get pushed back so I decided to flood the midfield and bog down the play to secure the win. It worked, but we invited a lot of pressure and luckily for us Fulham's players were not able to capitalise. Our first win in six, what a relief!
Game 3. vs Hull | 19/03/2027
So we was now starting to maintain some consistency with our starting XI which I was very happy with. We had gained promotion alongside Hull so this was a game I marked as a must win. Hull have a very good striker who is gaining the attention of some more reputable Premier League clubs, admittedly I'm taking a look at him myself. We had our own prolific striker (albeit prolific in the football league) in Ryan Cassidy so I decided to give him a start against Hull as he proved he could do it against that calibre of opposition last season. Again, we decided to keep playing in our assertive 4-2-3-1 formation in order to maintain the momentum we gained from our last two matches.
And breathe! We managed to wrestle a tough fought 3 points away from Hull. They had the better chances in a dull first half, almost repeating the performance against Fulham. Cassidy, again, struggled up top and was replaced at HT but Lochereau-Pho didn't perform much better in the second interval. But as the second half kicked off, we came flying out the blocks and Fitzpatrick managed to grab us a goal at the far post. 1-0! We spent the rest of the game trying to control the game but we conceded a lot of chances, but fortunately for us Hull's attackers were not in form today and their normally prolific striker was isolated and he had a bad day at the office. Towards the end of the game, with Hull's shot counter rising, we decided to flood the midfield to secure another 3 points.
Monthly Overview
A great month of results and finally gets us back to winning ways after a tough run of results. The addition of getting two clean sheets in a row is the icing on the cake and really helps to finalise a solid defensive 5, enabling our young, dynamic and talented attackers to go and win these closely contested games for us. I am hoping we can keep this good form going into the next month of fixtures as we have more games against relegation rivals, before a hard run in.
We've climbed 2 places from 15th to 13th and we currently sit 10 points above the relegation places! I don't want to say it but we might just be safe with 8 games to go... but we won't count our chickens just yet. We have an action packed April to come with 5 games, 3 of those being winnable in my eyes against other relegation rivals (the other is against runaway leaders Manchester United!). Always the optimist, I am looking to climb the table rather than look over my shoulder and I am hoping to finish strong as, "I am not in the business of making predictions", especially regarding our final league position, considering we have a few tough games still to play. Stay tuned for April!
I thought we had 5 games this month, however, with Manchester United progressing in Europe our matchup with them was rescheduled for May. So just the 4 games this month. We faced Leicester, Sheffield United, Bournemouth and Bristol City.
Before we get into how the matches played out, I wanted to give a shoutout to our u18's for winning their divisional cup for the third season in a row. They have also won their division again as well and they really deserve a promotion! We don't exactly have a squad full of wonderkids but we have some young players with decent potential but the investment in our youth coaching has provided that extra boost that we needed to take our youth setup to the next level. But their is still work to be done to improve.
Ok, so now, let's get into the games!
Game 1. vs Leicester | 05/04/2027
At the beginning of the month we had a squad with no injuries. Based on current form and ability, this is most probably my strongest XI. With Dabo not putting in the best performances on the LW, Fitzpatrick gets the nod to start there and make that position his own. This is primarily because of how well Abramovic has been playing as of recent. He has really chipped in with goals and assists in the second half of the season to help the team progress. Since it was a home game, I decided to go with our 4-2-3-1, as we seem to perform well and compete with teams when playing this system.
Leicester started this game in 12th and have a very strong team in comparison to us. However, in our first meeting of the season we walked away with a 5-0 away win! I felt I had reasons to be confident. This wasn't an underestimation of their prowess, though. I had received a job from Leicester last season so I was aware of the strength of their team, then. Seeing their lineup now, I knew we were in for a game!
Well... a disappointing way to start the month. Leicester managed to grab a very early goal from a cross, which I was not pleased with. We grew into the game but Leicester proved why they are currently the superior team. As even as the stats were, they had much better chances to extend the lead opposed to our chances to draw level. I couldn't sit idly by as the clocked ticked down. With our slight advantage in possession, I decided to just go for it and attempt to salvage a point. It didn't work. But at least we went down with a fight, if that is any consolation.
Game 2. vs Sheffield United | 10/04/2027
Off the back of the 1-0 loss Leicester inflicted upon us, I thought it would be better to approach this game with a little more caution. I feel this team is affected by morale quite heavily, this could everyone's experience however. We started this game with a 4-3-3, with a flat midfield 3. The only change to the team for this game was to replace Abramovic with Dabo as I see good potential in him and wanted to give him more minutes in the hope that he will develop. Sheffield United posses some nice players and although they are ageing, I knew this would be a closely contested game.
As I thought, a close game. Obviously it would've been great to win but there is definitely a part of me is happy we didn't lose, especially considering we were both still in the relegation conversation. Going off the xG, we had slightly better chances but again we saw poor performances from Dabo and Maldonado who gave their best McGoldrick impersonations and couldn't capitalise on the chances presented to them. Our substitutes came on and we switched to our trusted 4-2-3-1 formation. The subs played OK but the game remained scoreless.
Game 3. vs Bournemouth | 16/04/2027
Next up, we faced a Bournemouth team who sat in 19th position. A first of 2 games against teams in the relegation zone. We lined up with the usual suspects, bringing in Dabo and Cassidy. The positions of LW and CF seem to be the ones where we lack a stable performing figure so I was looking for at least one of them to step up and stake their claim to make the position their own.
As Bournemouth begun the game with 5 defenders, we decided to play our usual formation. Our midfield had been performing well in the previous few fixtures, so I had faith in them. It was the attackers that I needed to step up and grab some more goals and due to this I wanted the team to start positive, in hope that, our football would be played mostly in their half of the pitch.
Well this was a frustrating match to say the least. We had an abundance of chances throughout the game, we just failed to capitalise on them. And on top of that, to go down 1-0 inside half an hour was a pretty awful start. Straight after we conceded I switched the boys to an attacking mentality. I didn't want this to be the start of a capitulation where we ended the season poorly. Chance after chance passed us by, but to no avail. Ever since being a young lad watching Rafa Benitez manage Liverpool, I always took notice of how he regularly made substitutions at 60 mins. Obviously, now this is a very common feature, but it always stuck with me for some reason. So once it hit the hour mark, I made some changes. Abramovic and Maldonado came on, replacing Dabo and Cassidy. Sissako came off for Dreher around the 70 min mark. However, by that time, Abramovic had already done his part by scoring a goal for us to tie the game. As you can tell by the xG, we really should've won the game as we had some great late chances but it wasn't to be. Unfortunate, but the bottom half of the league is so tight, that it was a valuable point for us.
Game 4. vs Bristol City | 25/04/2027
Before the game had even begun, we had some bad news. Our starting GK picked up a slight knock a couple days before our game against Bristol City. I didn't want to risk injuring him further against the team that was bottom of the league, so Corujo would be rested before a challenging last month of fixtures. But it did make me think... surely we wouldn't slip up against the side destined for relegation.
So after a run of 3 games without a win, I decided to make a couple tweaks to the starting XI, as well as the bench. Alex Palmer came in for the injured Corujo, but the back 4 remains the same. Sissako dropped to the bench as our captain Dreher returned to our midfield. After Abramovic scored in the last game, he returned to the RW, with Dabo dropping to the bench and Fitzpatrick shifted over the the LW. And finally, Maldonado regained his starting place ahead of Cassidy who hasn't been in the best form. Now onto the bench. Josh Flint, our 17 year old, academy GK came into the squad for this game. Secondly, Romeu Pericles gets his first outing in the matchday squad, as I thought this game could potentially be a great one for him to get his first appearance.
Even though we were the away side, Bristol City were bottom of the league so we had to go for the win and nothing less. For a while I had been contemplating why my CF's had not been in the best of form recently. In this game I decided to put my faith in Maldonado and give him the full 90 mins. I find myself regularly substituting my strikers, so in this game I decided against that. Let's see what transpired...
A big win... eventually. When we conceded that penalty early on, I can't lie, I thought it might be one of those days. However, it didn't pan out that way, fortunately. We quickly got a goal back through Fitzpatrick and we went into HT with a 2-1 lead, thanks to another goal contribution from Abramovic. The second half we came out motivated and throughout the next 40 mins, Maldonado had 2 goals ruled out by VAR. Palmer had to make a couple of saves in the second period, but we were definitely the team in control. We also showed our clinical touch in this game, with Maldonado grabbing 2 late goals. Repaying the faith I put in him by giving him the full 90. Also, wanted to give a quick mention to Romeu Pericles who, after coming on as a late second half sub, grabbed himself an assist!
Monthly Overview
A mixed bag of results this month. It didn't start off too well, even if our performances weren't the worst. However, we began to rediscover our goalscoring mojo towards the end of the month and ended the month by putting 4 past the team bottom of the league.
A positive month for the club, with us climbing 1 place to 12th. As well as this, we have hit the 'magical' 40 point mark, so I'd say I am finally confident that we will be playing Premier League football next season! The fact we have a game in hand is promising, but it is against Manchester United. The 3 other games we have to play are against teams in the top 6, also. I am hoping we can try to get a smash and grab 3 points against 1 of the teams, however, I would also be content with keeping the scorelines respectable, due to the disparity between the top and bottom clubs. But that is for the next instalment of this incredible journey!
We were down to the final month of the campaign and we faced 4 of the best teams in the division. We were in for a tough task this month. At a bare minimum I didn't want to take 4 L's. The teams we played in May were; Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Arsenal. On top of this, we were not mathematically safe from the drop yet, but it looked very promising unless there was a calamity.
Let's dive into the games!
Game 1. vs Liverpool | 02/05/2027
Admittedly, I forgot to screenshot the lineups of both teams so I'll show how both team lined-up individually.
We wanted to keep momentum by using the same players who have been performing well as of recent. However, I felt it was necessary to drop our AM for a DM to try and keep Liverpool's talented attack at bay. I can't say I was confident of a win going into the game, but I felt a draw was not out of reach is we turned up.
This was the calibre of opposition we were up against and these were 3rd in the league! We knew we'd be defending for large parts of the game, I just hoped we could have success countering down the wings to maybe grab a goal and then defend for our lives.
Not quite how I had planned it, but I thought the game would be less competitive so that's a credit to the squad of players at the club. We had a few players who put in poor performances and I couldn't change them all. Our young boys struggled in the middle of the park and for that reason, I think that we failed to impose our will on Liverpool. Combined with trying to prevent the playmaking abilities of their midfielders, we got put onto the back foot too regular early on. Next we had a double header against the Manchester clubs... wish us luck!
In between the Liverpool and City game we had some good and bad news.
The Liverpool game led to two of our key starters picking up minor injuries. Pearce would recover in time for the next game, however, Maldonado would not.
But that bad news took a back seat when we got this notification in our inbox...
WE HAD IT CONFIRMED! No matter how the final three games played out we had achieved our mission for the season. Now it became a challenge of, how high could we finish? But considering we were tipped to finish rock bottom I think we have massively exceeded expectations this season and the players will be given a chance to play again next season.
Game 2. vs Manchester City | 08/05/2027
A big, big, ask to come away with anything from this game. The City squad is out of the stratosphere when compared to ours but I just wanted to keep this one respectable. I decided to make some changes in the midfield since the performance in the previous game was lacklustre, at best. We lined up with the same formation as the Liverpool game as I thought going for a 3 / 5 at the back would be too negative, but maybe I would come to regret that! On top of this, we were without our star player, Maldonado, for this game and I decided to put faith in Lochereau-Pho who I thought would be the best at holding the ball up and linking the play to our wingers. Let's see how it transpired...
Well this was quite frankly an embarrassing result. The gulf in quality was clear, we just couldn't deal with their pace and movement and we just weren't at it. Not too much else to say but it's not like this result was unlucky, we were outclassed so as much as I wasn't happy, I can have no complaints. On to the next one... against top of the league. No rest for the wicked!
Game 3. vs Manchester United | 12/05/2027
So after the annihilation we suffered against the second best team in the division, we had 3 days to dust ourselves down to compete against the runaway league leaders. The team that Utd possess is almost criminal, but we wanted to give them a tough match and make them earn their points if they were to pry any away from us.
Seeing their form and their lineup, I had to be sensible and revert to a 5 back formation. We bought Kirk back into the starting XI as our third CB and in order to pack the middle of the field with 3 midfielders so we were forced to drop our wingers. However, I still wanted Fitzpatrick in the team so he is a good, solid performer for us so we moved him into the AM role. On top of this, we had Maldonado back in the team and he provides such a threat when he's available.
There is a reason why Utd are top of the league and they really blew us away today. Our defence just couldn't contain their world class attack and we payed the price. The only positive was Maldonado getting a brace. This highlighted the fact that in the off-season we have got to improve in certain areas in we want to be on the track of starting to be competitive with the top teams.
Game 4. vs Arsenal | 16/05/2027
After a sorry showing in this month from ****, we faced Arsenal in the final game of the 2026/2027 season. The past 2 results had taken the wind out of myself and any momentum we had this season. However, we had already secured survival so these games were really just free hits but so far we were the ones getting smacked.
This are probably my most talented XI, on paper, for the 5-3-2 formation. A few changes in as Djukic replaced Basic and Abramovic came in for Fitzpatrick, as he had played well when he came on in the last game. However, you can still see that Arsenal are a team full of highly reputable players and even if we played 50% better than we did in the previous 2 games, it was going to be a better result.
As I said, we changed to a 5-3-2 formation instead of playing an AM. We also changed a few roles around, with our DM becoming a DLP and one of our CM's playing the BBM role. I was really just hoping this game would not result in us suffering another drubbing at the hands of a top 6 side. Lets see how the game went...
Well this was a turn up for the books! A throughly deserved win, where our clinical edge triumphed. This was a nice, positive way to end the season and it gave me reason to believe we could go on and improve our results next season. We aren't here to make up the number, we're here to compete!
Monthly Overview
As you can see, we had a strong finish to an otherwise poor month. Admittedly this was probably one of, if not, the hardest month of fixtures we could have received but at least we didn't have to depend of good results in these fixtures in order to escape relegation. The obviously highlight of the 4-0 win over Arsenal left me optimistic going into the 2027/2028 season.
After a full 38 game campaign, we find ourselves sat at a respectable 14th position (above Spurs!) and 10 points clear of the relegation places. With a record of 12 wins; 7 draws; 19 losses, there is definitely room for improvement and I believe that has to come with us reinforcing to have more of a goal threat. We have Maldonado in our ranks who proved he can do the business for us this year, but aside from him, we don't possess another CF who will guarantee us goals. Also, considering we had a small budget for the Championship (let alone the Premier League), I actually think we haven't done too bad for our first season in the top flight. Therefore, adding some Premier League quality across a few positions, as well as, letting our young players have another season to develop in a top class league should see us improve and hopefully break into the top half next season. Who knows what the future holds!
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Aiden Fitzpatrick, Folarin Balogun and Kelechi Nwakali were a trio of great free transfers who had already played for us on loan. As I've already mentioned Fitzpatrick has been the player who has performed for me most since I first got him in on a free and onto our right wing at Bradford City. As for the outs... £2 million for our backup centre forward was a fair valuation, so the offer was accepted, as Samuel was ageing and didn't have the current ability to be in the long term picture. The rest of the money was made up from selling a backup CB in Bernard to Charlton for £450k, loans and selling Bevis Mugabi to Oxford for £110k in January 
