Fola's Career [FM15]

Just had this report on one of my player's out on loan; Brian Thornhill. I bought him in the Summer from Sheffield Wednesday and he's currently playing out on loan at League One side Portsmouth.



The next Jordan Henderson hey? What a player to live up to...

Season 20/21 - Twenty matches gone

Our last ten matches in the league went really well for us and we are continuing to do well in the league. Survival is still my main priority as we only sit eleven points above the drop zone in what is a really tight league this season. We can dream and say that I should be looking at Europa League qualification but I don't want to think about that just yet.




As you can see, we currently sit in 5th position after twenty matches which is something I never would of dreamed of at the start of the season, especially due to our budget compared to the rest of the teams in this league. The majority of the squad is the same side I had in the past few seasons in the Championship, with some players playing for me since our days in the Conference and League Two so to be sitting where we are now is great.

We only lost two games in the league out of our last ten matches. We gained some great results along the way with former Manchester United winger Bruninho scoring a late equaliser on his debut against Manchester City. Which was followed by a great double from Summer signing Federico Bonazzoli to ensure we beat Liverpool. We move into our new stadium in a few weeks but to be completely honest with you, I would love to stay at Plainmoor. Yes, it only holds 6,200 but that means that the majority are Torquay supporters and our home form has been brilliant so far.

As I said earlier, the January transfer window has opened so I'm once again expecting bids to flood in for my players, especially academy graduate Tafari Zuill who has been outstanding for us this season. He is now regularly being capped for England under 21's so I just hope we can keep him. Jack Barmby is another player who I expect to gain interest. He has been brilliant for us this season which has seen his value rocket up to £7.75 million. This is one of the main reasons I love FM. In our FGR Succession Game, Barmby is currently playing in League Two with Morecambe whilst Luke Young and Levi Ives are both playing Conference football. Whereas in this game, they're all key players in the Premier League. I'm so happy that my initial objectives at the start of this career of player development seem to have really paid off.

Loyalty to my players is the key in this career and it really seems to be paying off.

Wow, epic start with Torquay

You're having a remarkable season with Torquay. KIU.

Season 20/21 - January Transfer Window Review



As well as that 16 year old guy I posted earlier, I made a few more signings in the window.



The young Belgian joined us on a three year deal after his contract expired last Summer at Lokeren. Weirdly, once he joined Lokeren decided they wanted him back on loan until the end of the season. I decided to accept as he's definitely one for the future.



Waste of wages. Not sure why I could a punt on this guy, will look to sell on ASAP.



Joined for just over £500k from Barcelona which I feel is an absolute bargain. He has been capped by the Spanish Under 21 National Team and was a regular in Barcelona's 'B' team the past few seasons. He's tall too so will be able to win headers and overall looks like he could be a quality centre midfielder in the future.



This one was a signing that was completed in the final hours of transfer deadline day. This guy is probably the transfer I've been most happy with in this whole career. It came up on my newsfeed that Real Madrid, Manchester United and Chelsea had all had offers accepted for him. I had a bit of extra cash lying around so I thought I'd give it a go, offered him relatively high wages and BAM... He chose us!

Brilliant signings I think you're being harsh on that Romanian fella.

Season 20/21 - Eight matches to go- Europa League on the cards?

So we have eight matches remaining and Europa League looks like it could definitely be on the cards. At the start of the season, I stated that survival was my priority and we seem to have done that so I am now looking to push on for Europe.



One major worrying thing is the fact that we haven't scored in our last five matches. In my six seasons at the club, scoring goals has never been a problem but we have faltered in our last five and have actually look quite poor. I'll be gutted if we continue this bad form as it's happening at such an important stage of the season for us. Europa League for a side that was in the Conference only seven seasons ago would be a great feat, just hope we can do it.

Before our poor run, we actually were doing quite well in the league. George Green was grabbing all the plaudits and was actually named player of the month for January. He's done really well since his move from Everton in the Summer, I just hope he can re-find his form for the remaining eight matches.



I'll update you again at the end of the season and hopefully we'll be in the Europa League slots. Fingers crossed! Is it 5th and 6th that get Europa League yeah?

Fingers crossed for you, so close after a brilliant season

Having a superb season to date mate! keep it up! some superb additions this transfer window

Still doing brilliantly in the league

I believe 5th-7th gets Europa League spot.

Thanks for the comments lads, much appreciated.

I will have another update either tonight or tomorrow, depends on how much work I get done.

Massively impressive career so far Fola. Good luck on getting a Europa League spot!

Thanks for the comment mate. I've been really the past few days, there will definitely be an update coming up tonight.

Season 20/21 - Europa League Qualification Secured!

We did it! We only gained promotion from the Championship last season but next season we will be playing in Europe, I can't quite believe it. As I have said many a time, the majority of this squad is the same squad that I've had for the past few seasons so to qualify for the Europa League is a real shock.



We actually played quite poorly in our final ten matches but thanks to two good draws in the final two games, we managed to qualify. It took a late own goal in the Stoke match to grab us a draw meaning we needed results to go our way in our final game. We managed a 2-2 draw against Manchester City in the last game thanks to goals from Luke Young and Tafari Zuill whilst Stoke lost meaning Europa League football was secured. I was really happy to see Luke Young grab such an important goal for us. He has been with us since our days in the Conference and despite not doing as well as previous seasons, he still managed three goals and will still be an important part of my side for years to come.

As you can see, Everton got relegated so I may have a look at what players they have that I can poach. I haven't received next seasons budget yet but Southampton as also in the Championship and have James Ward-Prowse so he's another player I'm interested in. Once again, I won't bring in a whole host of players in the Summer. Throughout this career I have been loyal to my current players and they have done brilliant for me. Apart from Moller-Daehli, Greeb and Bonazzoli my starting eleven have been with me for a considerable amount of seasons so I will be sticking with them.

I'm delighted to have been able to qualify for the Europa League and I will update you on all my player stats etc tonight.

Finances are looking very tasty. It's great to see the progression we have as a club over the past seven seasons. We still have the lowest wages in the Premier League with my highest wage on a player being £25k a week which is really small in comparison to other clubs in this league. I pay a great amount of detail into the wage structure at the club and have decided that no player will earn over £40k a week next season, if a player wants that much, then this club isn't for them.

I want to make this club successful and rich at the same time. Hopefully this wage structure can help me towards this.

Here are the finances when I took over at the club seven seasons ago:

Good to see that Luke Young is still in the top five despite not being a strong as previous seasons. George Green was our top goalscorer so no surprises seeing him leading the way. Luke Young had been top for the past seven seasons so its a shame, I just hope next season it will be him again. Moller Daehli is a player with good pedigree, whilst Bonazzoli was formerly of Inter and Manchester United so he's a well known player. Clotet only arrived in January so it's surprising to see him in the top five.

Just looking at those finances from when you took over and to now, its amazing the way you've gone through this career with the scouts, finances, youth players etc, this is why its one of my favorite careers going! Well done on europa league football net year!

Europa League Hope you can poach few decent players at Southampton/Everton

Massive congrats on securing Europa League football next season.

Above are my player stats from the season just gone. As you can see, Hubert was once again my starting goalkeeper and did well for me so will again, be my number one goalkeeper next season. The defence was relatively solid again with impressive performances from both Ives and Pearce which is quality considering they're been with me since the start. Zuill was class in CM and will be a key player for me next season, whilst Young did OK and still will be playing every match if he is fit. Up top, Bonazzoli and Green were my key men and both banged in a few goals with Green finishing my top scorer. It was nice to actually have a reason where I didn't have to rely on goals from other positions apart from the strikers, long may that continue.

Above are the lads who were out on loan. Mulder, Raun and O'Brien will play a part in my first team next season but the rest will either be loaned out again or sold. I am going Nuytinck leave when his loan expires and O'Brien can take his place as a back up centre back. I've extended Ryan Dillon's loan until the end of next season, despite his lack of appearances for us last season, mainly as he's only on £5k a week.

On the up.

My £25k a week wages now make me the highest paid person in the club. Just how it should be hey?

For the last six seasons, Luke Young has won FPOY however this season, our top goalscorer George Green has won the award. Luke Young was injured for three months this season and wasn't as impressive as previous seasons but many of the fans still voted for him as Green just pipped him.



Green was extremely impressive for us last season and managed 14 goals in his first full season in the Premier League. He averaged at a goal every two matches which for a league as strong as this one is very impressive. He rotated really in the lone striker role with Bonazzoli who I'm expecting big things from this upcoming season.

Very impressive season from the lad and to bring him into the club for such a small fee last Summer turned out to be an absolute bargain.

Once again, great ambition shown by the board. Last season we got Europa League and this season they don't want us to embarrass ourselves too much. It's all good for me as I won't get sacked if we do poorly but strange for the board to have such low ambition, especially after the success of the past few seasons.

"Don't get outclassed too often", can't say I've ever seen that expectation before. Good luck this season.

Some huge news coming up now and I hope it's not a decision I regret in the future.



My top goalscorer last season and fans player of the year has left us to join fellow Premier League side West Ham for a fee which could rise up to £10 million. Some may ask: why would I sell my top goalscorer? And to be honest with you I'm not too sure I just think it is the right decision. £10 million for a player we only signed last Summer for £675k is a great move financially for us as a club. We also have some good players who have been out on loan coming back into the fold, while Bonazzoli is a good enough footballer to make the striking berth his own.

I'm looking at bringing in a player to replace him. We do have Bart Mulder returning from loan who bagged 12 goals for Sheffield United in the Championship last season so I'm hoping he can make the step up. The sale of Green becomes our highest ever sale which is something I'm really happy about.

Click HERE to see the full breakdown of the transfer.
Click HERE to see his stats.

We have drawn Rangers in the third qualifying round in the Europa League. If we win this, we then get through the play offs and then if we win we enter the group stages. Fingers crossed we can do well in this competition as it's a great achievement that we've even in this competition considering we were in the Conference seven seasons ago.



I've bought two new players into the club which I will update to you shortly. Two players which I'm really happy about.

The season is about the start and I have only bought two players into the club but two I'm very happy about. Both are young and have a lot of potential, managed to get them both for a steal too.



Jan Vavra has joined the club for a fee of £3 million from Czech side Mlada Boleslav. He has been capped six times by the Czech under 21 national side and I'm anticipating he will become a full international in no time. He will become my starting holding midfielder and will probably replace Patricio, which is a shame because he was a good player.



Another Czech under 21 international has joined us for for £4 million from Viktoria Plzen. We managed to beat Aston Villa and West Ham to his signature and it's one I'm very happy with. At only 17 years only and to have them kind of stats is something special. We also have Vacek who we signed last season (have a look a page back to see his stats).

Click HERE to see my outgoings. I've let a few go out on loan whilst also cashing in on Green and Robson who never played a game for the club after arriving last Summer on a free. Scott Hogan and Lloyd Palun also left the club on free transfers after their contracts came to an end. It was a shame to see John Bostock leave the club as he was one of my favourite players a few seasons back but he's done well to get himself a move to a Championship club so I'm happy for him.

Both players look like they'll be future stars thats for sure and a great price to get them at mate!