Johno
17 years ago
1 week ago
2,643
Premium
Good to see you sold Gray for 1.2M and shore up the finances
Fola
17 years ago
5 months ago
3,240
Premium
Good to see you sold Gray for 1.2M and shore up the finances


It's good because I probably won't need to sell any more players now. Hopefully this season won't be as tough as I had initially anticipated.
philstanbridge
11 years ago
1 month ago
69
Premium
This is an interesting thread. I really enjoy starting more or less at the bottom and working my way up. Unemployed with no experience is the best, but it's so difficult. The benefit of starting low is that you get to see the players and the club develop over the seasons, providing of course you keep winning.

A few points I would make, I pretty much concentrate on my back-room team from the off. It is vitally important and often overlooked. Good coaches usually equates better quality training, but only if your facilities are up to scratch. Remember that coaches also improve your scouting knowledge, so try and find a coach with good stats who also has plenty of foreign experience. The best scouting knowledge I have ever had is 89% worldwide coverage. But that was in the Premier League with 26 scouts and numerous coaches and staff. This allowed me to find numerous top quality youth players and the odd worldclass wonderkid. One striker who was 17 when he joined me for £120k had a 194 ability out of 200! He was insane, with high determination and vision. He will turn into something amazing providing I keep training him. But in the lower leagues it is important to find quality that can be used immediately in the first team. Free transfers are obviously the best bet, but the Financial Fair Play is a killer. I've often fallen foul. Just remember though, a scout/coaches knowledge can decrease as well as increase. Generally if they have low determination and adaptability they may lose their scouting knowledge quickly. This can turn a good scout/coach into a dud.

Another little thing I've discovered, when training your youth, if they are at your cub, get them doing PPM early. Each movement adds value to the player.
I like to invest in a lot of youth players, mostly 15-18 year olds and keep them in my under 21's. I am currently playing as Boreham Wood, and have got them into League 1, but prior to this I managed to sell a youth English player i got on a free for £700k up front and a 50% of his next transfer. I managed to make £1.5 million on the 17 year old in the end which sorted out all of my debt problems in one hit. This is the way to make money in the lower leagues and probably the only way to make significant amounts to be honest. I've got another 5 similar players who may or may not turn into equally good financial opportunities for me in the future.

But I look forward to seeing how you get on.
Fola
17 years ago
5 months ago
3,240
Premium
Season 19/20 - Eleven League Matches Gone

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/H5kWjz9pp2v5wM5Fn9tciCLge51k25rR4QJtTvO7.png
* - Southend, Middlesbrough and Millwall were Capital One Cup.


So, ten games gone and it's gone a lot better than I had initially anticipated. We are currently sitting comfortably in mid table and to be honest, if we finished in this position come the end of the season I'd be buzzing. We started off the season really well, grabbing some impressive wins but we seem to have hit a bit of a blip in our recent games.

Jack Barmby has settled into the side brilliantly on the left wing and has filled to gap left by Demarai Gray very well so lets hope we can keep that up. Luke Young has been banging in the goals for us once again, albeit a few of them were penalties. I'm still rotating up front between Hogan, Jaadi, Sorensen and Mulder, with Sorensen impressing me most.

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/CfCDWskYsAfiYz0nNXKFRD2dMdxTnrtYK6pA8ugB.png


If anybody wants any other screenies then let me know because I know it's been a while since I last updated.
Fola
17 years ago
5 months ago
3,240
Premium
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/DdVq3ARPrzQOdoxyRIrdC82lxciPIi2KE9BZm97S.png

Just been checking my youth side and I came across this guy. As you know, I was manager at South Africa last season for a grand total of 9 days. I did however sign some of my Torquay staff to work over there with me (all of whom are still there). Maybe this lad was one of their finds or maybe it's just a coincidence, I'm not sure.

Shame he's useless too.

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/yb08b6JYhdsV9z2P6EdtWuEZgIaDpwCNKycmu4td.png
Fola
17 years ago
5 months ago
3,240
Premium
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/6ofxh0x3vz7UdjdrxDn0LHmGG4kIn1w1Omac49qc.png


John Bostock has got another injury for me! So frustrating! HERE are his stats two seasons ago before he did his knee but he's been injury prone ever since. He's a very talented footballer but as you all know, finances here are horrendous so it may be time to cash in on him.

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/fDUIgWgK93Bzz8oeGpBN2SyHaNXCNISkqc1s8Dac.png

The injuries haven't affected his stats massively but he's just not the same player since he injured his knee. He was class alongside Luke Young in our promotion season from League One but since then he's really been on the fringes of the first team even when he is fit. I think I'm definitely going to look at cashing in on him come the January transfer window. Zuill is also doing well this season so I think he'd be keeping Bostock out of the team anyway.

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/m0DHUSbwWXtJBudIsOp2U3Q3XVUQ2RCeIq5X0Wdq.png
Fola
17 years ago
5 months ago
3,240
Premium
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/lBvLvjXZgjlHnGo54yJcrpoLWglM6VROPec8QAnw.png

I have signed a replacement for Bostock in the form of this guy. He was a regular for Swindon a few years back but has since been playing for Yeovil in League Two before being surprisingly released in the Summer. It will be interesting to see whether he can make the step up to the Championship but his stats are very good.

If he impresses me then Bostock will definitely be on his way out of the club.
Fola
17 years ago
5 months ago
3,240
Premium
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/XmnbeNyOASC1Xgvj7tIRUfLkX8TphdoXRrR8z2AM.png

Here are our current finances. For the time being, we are okay... in the future we are fucked.
Fola
17 years ago
5 months ago
3,240
Premium
Season 19/20 - Twenty Matches Gone

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/LRbbB3WDZ3E5kQ1RuVOg6t6ko5fkoTT8Dss6LV5I.png
* - Leeds was the Capital One Cup.


Twenty matches gone in the league and we are doing so much better than I could of ever dreamed at the start of the season. I signed Simeon Jackson on a free transfer to add some experience to help the younger strikers at the club and he's done much better than I expected he would of. He's grabbed some vital goals including two against Blackburn, which saw us beat Demarai Gray on his return to the club.

In the league, we only lost one in nine which is really good considering how pessimistic I was at the start of the season. Luke Young has once again been superb with him and Jack Barmby being my key performers so far. We were knocked out of the Capital One Cup which I don't really care about. It's mid December now, I'm just hoping I can keep Bennett, KP and Ives who have all once again generated interest from other clubs.

At the start of the season, I was all about selling players to ensure the future of the club. But now, fuck it, they're staying and I want promotion to the Premier League. If we gain promotion, our finances will be sorted. If we don't we'll be fucked once again but we may as well give it a go. Yes, it is tight at the top of the table but the form we're on, we can definitely stay up there I think... I hope.

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/JpPY73xMIPj2KUuGlyz9KmfJeue7qCl0Ay1t1sEr.png
Johno
17 years ago
1 week ago
2,643
Premium
C'mon Fola!! You can get the promotion spot
Dan
12 years ago
4 months ago
16,964
Doing excellent mate! Promotion is a real potential
Fola
17 years ago
5 months ago
3,240
Premium
C'mon Fola!! You can get the promotion spot


Fingers crossed mate. I didn't expect to be anywhere near the top of the table at this stage of the season, just hope we can keep it up for the second half of the season.
Fola
17 years ago
5 months ago
3,240
Premium
Doing excellent mate! Promotion is a real potential


Thanks for the comment again, Dan. I hope so!

Apologies updates haven't been as frequent. With my dissertation and Uni work my priority I will update when I can. This game will be going until FM16 comes out so I'll be updating now and again until then.
Fola
17 years ago
5 months ago
3,240
Premium
Season 19/20 - Thirty matches gone, sixteen to go

Thirty games gone and despite a few blips, we are still in the play off positions. In our past ten league matches we have lost four which isn't really good enough if we want to ensure we get the play offs this season.

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/yyMfmspS4mXwONNrgjZVnlRi6Ssh63mPfPC0IvhJ.png

* - Chelsea was in the FA Cup third round.


There have been some great results mind, especially the beating we gave Derby. We have a tough run in for the remaining sixteen matches but hopefully we can do it. Once again, Luke Young has been the man again this season and after only thirty matches he has scored 17 goals from centre midfield which is absolutely remarkable for a centre midfielder, let alone one who was playing in the Conference a few years back.

Upfront, once again, is a place we have really struggled. I decided to send Martin Sorensen out on loan again and he has joined Danish side FC Copenhagen until the end of the season. It will be a great experience for him to ply his trade abroad and hopefully he will come back a better and stronger player. Nabil Jaadi was done OK for us up top but Hogan and Jackson seem to have lost their way. We were given a bit of money to spend but I well and truly fucked that one up which will be explained later. So now, we currently sit in 4th position, I'm hoping the next time I report back to you that we will still be in the play offs. Fingers crossed hey.

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/4JtT2unuCghu7mugSDx0pcwVulNf7p4RPj2Ha9jT.png

---

So, this is how I messed up. We forked out £120k for Orlando Pirates striker Clifford Slthole and on paper he looks like a brilliant signing. Unfortunately he had his work permit rejected but I stupidly continued to confirm the deal. Now, he has used up pretty much all of our transfer budget but we can't play him. I asked the board to see if they could find me a feeder club to help out with work permits but no luck. So unfortunately, he is unable to play for us at any level. He is currently in the under 21 squad with another work permit reject; Jonathan Diba who signed three years ago but still hasn't played a match for us.

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/w225tlA5qvDl5RV0BdPynk85ghZHAx2qT1ueGU0r.png

I even looked at trying to get my money back and selling him on but nobody was interested. I just need to hope that when I keep applying a work permit will finally be granted, if not he'll be a very, very expensive mistake.
Fola
17 years ago
5 months ago
3,240
Premium
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/D1Em7aNSai1wRbHSd7oMnTJ2Hv7pHj8fAb77SwkE.png


Just a quick update on Captain Fantastic Luke Young. At the start of the season, I said that if this guy performs well then anything is possible but then again, survival was my main priority. However, once again, Luke Young has shocked me and is currently having his strongest season to date and pretty much holding us together. With my strikers struggling to score there's no chance we'd be in the play offs if it wasn't for him. Not bad for a centre midfielder hey?

He has eleven assists along with his eighteen goals and has won the Championship POM three times this season already. I'm just hoping he can stay fit for our remaining sixteen games and then hopefully the play offs. This guy deserves Premier League football and I hope we can give it to him soon. Forgot to mention earlier but the January transfer window is shut and we managed to keep all of our players. Premier League clubs were sniffing round Ives once again and also Zuill who has improved massively this season but we managed to keep them put which is great news for us.

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/K0hKMtTnfNmLa6tkBrV97NaE3zN3e6RvreBlu1TS.png
Fola
17 years ago
5 months ago
3,240
Premium
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/WyNIjsSAPXydCXcYs5yCwd7L1bQcYsLAj2k8HVGA.png

My three hundredth game at the club was the 8-0 demolition of Derby which is always nice.
Johno
17 years ago
1 week ago
2,643
Premium
Brilliant achievement Hopefully you be in the play off spot at the end of the season.

Such a shame Clifford Sithole didn't get his work permit He looks brilliant.
Fola
17 years ago
5 months ago
3,240
Premium
Brilliant achievement Hopefully you be in the play off spot at the end of the season.

Such a shame Clifford Sithole didn't get his work permit He looks brilliant.


Thanks mate. I don't know what to do about the South African guy, his stats are class but I may just try and sell him if anybody can take him off my hands with a high sell on percentage clause.
Fola
17 years ago
5 months ago
3,240
Premium
My youth candidates have come through and this guy is apparently my best. I've highlighted the stats for a CB that I like the look of and will try and give him some game time if possible before the end of the season.

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/9krSBhAHbmyL8nD9zXwDSaLBt7aMAtKOyQd8LdXT.png

To have 16 tackling at the age of 15 is impressive.
Fola
17 years ago
5 months ago
3,240
Premium
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/pM6FIjAMaXI5hDKXuGg89MpYY6k0WixoJIl79wxn.png

Oh god. Maybe the board aren't as bad as I thought after all. That would of just been my luck, I get the club playing well and near the play offs and then we'd get deducted 10 points! The finances still don't make for good reading at all so promotion is pretty much a must, no pressure or anything lads. I really can't be doing with trying to rebuild again next season, clubs are already swooping round my players as it is.

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/WL9yCCkpj93RySazUPBxVYe63J4eKLLnjh1HopCq.png
Fola
17 years ago
5 months ago
3,240
Premium
Season 19/20 - Six matches to go, Premier League on the cards?

We have six more matches until the end of the season. We win all of our matches and we, Torquay United are in the Premier League. The side that only in the Conference six seasons ago and also the side who has had the lowest budget in the Championship for the past three years. I can't even believe it, it feels so close but yet so far.

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/QWefasM5HIvRxjKug6mHrUjMa9cPYqjpmipvqLtl.png


We look to have hit our best form of the season in our most important stretch of the season. We only lost one match in our last ten after a disappointing defeat against Millwall. However, in the past few matches we grabbed some important wins against probable league winners Notts Forest and then the big one against Blackburn scoring three goals in ten second half minutes.

At the back, we have only conceded five goals in ten matches as well which is definitely a factor into our good form. We now go into the most important six matches ever for this football club. These are like six cup finals right after each other. As you know finances are shit for us at the moment and being one of the smallest clubs in the league, can we make promotion?! We move into our new 16,000 seater stadium next season, what a great thing it would be if we could kick off our new season in the best league in the world hey.

I'm so nervous arghhhhhhh!

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/J4EKow0Ne56pApdZZITqyxbVhKtdvUOc9p9NxYLG.png
Fola
17 years ago
5 months ago
3,240
Premium
How crazy is this?

Despite us doing well and getting loads of goals and stuff. The last time a player scored for me who was playing as a striker was 18 MATCHES AGO! I play a 4-3-2-1 formation and that "1" hasn't scored a goal for me in eighteen games. Whether it be Jaadi or Hogan, nobody knows how to hit the back of the net when playing up top. Good job we are getting goals from the midfield positions instead or we'd be fucked.
Fola
17 years ago
5 months ago
3,240
Premium
Season 19-20 - PROMOTION TO THE PROMISED LAND!

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/r9A8F5XvDfRYpBbeFfZez5XNkfOmJ41ijx7MH1q6.png


WE'VE DONE IT! Little old Torquay United have been promoted to the Premier League after finishing second place in the Championship. I genuinely can't actually believe it. My squad is made up of players who were with me since either League One. League Two or even the Conference in Young, Pearce and Ives' sake and we will now be playing in the Premier League next season.

Six years ago Torquay United were in the Conference and now we are on our way to the Premier League it's just surreal. Especially after the shock of last season, this season was never expected. Last season, for us to gain play offs was brilliant but this season I really thought we'd struggle to even stay in the league. However, much of this has been down to Captain Fantastic Luke Young. Luke Young managed to score 24 goals from the centre of midfield and finished my top goalscorer, he's hot favourite for the Championship POY too which is remarkable for a player who was with us in the Conference six seasons ago.

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/lz5Q2pYq1iCeIVK20l4xtJbT7Ysv1YHwXR0V6x4S.png


In our last six league matches we did infact face some tough opposition. I'm not completely sure what happened against Leicester but we were absolutely battered, not a clue why we didn't turn up that day. Our promotion was confirmed after the Huddersfield game after Blackburn could only manage a draw against relegated Cardiff City. Scott Hogan ended his goal drought and scored his first two goals of the season in probably our most important games of the season.

I will be giving lots of detailed updates over the next few days on my player development since my days in the Conference and my young and up and coming stars and so on. Now we are in the Premier League I want to put more down onto paper regarding this career, other than just results. I will once again, try to show faith in the players who got me into this league first. I will look at tying many of them down to long term deals and I'm sure many of them will now receive bumper wages as a result of it.

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/MEjyWdpPvZefcNJ4Qm0NcSXnvIDftUnYl5wzeIX4.png


Woah! Look at all that cash. I would of never even dreamed about having this much money. Like I said priority will be rewarding my current players for what they've done but then I will need to bring in a few more players without a doubt if we are to have any chance of surviving next season. It's going to be tough but I can't wait for the opportunity for little Torquay Untied to be playing against the best players in the world, week in, week out.

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/VL2JFQkw0jXpFVDd59UUbuNsohrG2uLbCybRXJpC.png


Thank you all who have read and commented on this career. I know for a fact that without the comment or this site this wouldn't still be going and as a result, its my favourite career on any FM series so thank you all. Notable shout outs to Dan and Johno.
Fola
17 years ago
5 months ago
3,240
Premium
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/n1ubOvSlQYjmO0TqtdpTXPIOKNNrYr5MCFCocIt4.png

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/ZH5lVVB9eNkVdknvRsYRAwI3DIr4F0DxMJPzh1VW.png

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/fcE9E8bVxq6ZaGNBYLcQtzGGwb6UBR7jszXJ8zJk.png

This club is on the up. We also move into our new 16,000 seater stadium for the start of next season too.
Poe
17 years ago
2 weeks ago
3,675
Superb work. Just read from start to finish.
Shedender
17 years ago
1 month ago
13,751
'grats on securing promotion to the Premier League, that should really help you financially.
Johno
17 years ago
1 week ago
2,643
Premium
Get in Cracking budget to play with
Fola
17 years ago
5 months ago
3,240
Premium
Superb work. Just read from start to finish.


Thanks Poe. Glad to see I have got another reader, hope you continue for my Premier League season.
Fola
17 years ago
5 months ago
3,240
Premium
'grats on securing promotion to the Premier League, that should really help you financially.


Cheers man. The financial side of things is a weight off my mind as obviously the past few seasons I've really had to be wary about how much I spend. Hope you keep reading.
Fola
17 years ago
5 months ago
3,240
Premium
Get in Cracking budget to play with


Thanks for the comment once again mate. Motivates me to keep updating when I know people are reading.

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