OistyT
6 years ago
1 year ago
20
Hi everyone, I’m Oisty T and welcome to my Football Manager challenge. After always managing Sunderland to varying degrees of success in Football Manager’s of the past and present I’ve decided on a different Red and White challenge and have relocated from the North East of England to the South Coast where I will attempt to turn Southampton into a power house.

Before I begin I’ve set myself some house rules (I’ve done this on other games in the past to just change up how I go about playing):
  • Any players under the age of 21 can only be signed if from within the EU or if they have dual nationality. During FM17 I had a veritable Chelsea load of youngsters out on loan waiting for there qualification period to end so they could the become EU citizens, then I got the hard Brexit scenario and my plan went up in smoke, having to sell the vast majority (some to other English clubs who could get work permits for them). This rule is to try and minimise the negative effects in case this happens again. I will however revisit this rule once the type of Brexit has been established.
  • I have in the past used Genie Scout to aid me in finding youngsters hidden throughout the world who can turn my team into an unbeatable machine, however this game is going to be different. I WILL NOT USE GENIE SCOUT, I will however still be intending to build my team and squad around young players with an aim to turn them into world beaters. To this end I will focus a lot of my resources into scouting and also my U18/U23 teams. When it comes to scouting I will not be employing scouts unless they have 15+ in both judging player ability and judging player potential.
OistyT
6 years ago
1 year ago
20
My main tactics

I will have three tactics available to myself:

4-3-3 My main tactic which I will be playing most of the time. Will normally use it for games against teams of a similar level to myself

4-5-1 My defensive variation of my main tactic. Will normally be used when trying to hold onto a lead or when I’m trying to defend against a much better team

4-2-3-1 My attacking variation of my main tactic. Used when chasing a game/against a significantly inferior team/when playing at a numerical advantage

I will not be posting player specific instructions but if people are interested in specific ones I will happily explain them.

(When i initially created the document I was adding things into I did have screenshots but these no longer seem usable)
OistyT
6 years ago
1 year ago
20
Now that i’ve got my tactics sorted I’m gonna go ahead and see just how my team will fit into my main tactic and see where the problem areas that I will need to address are. (BTW in my main tactic and my attacking tactic the keeper will be set as a sweeper keeper).

What I definitely need:
A new keeper as while Forster and McCarthy are capable keepers neither are the type of keeper I want so I will be making this focus number 1. In all likelihood I may look at moving Forster out to bring in some funds and free up some wages as he is valued at £19million and is currently earning £70K a week.
Once i’ve got my keeper in the bag, I’ll then need to start looking for a suitable front man as while I should be able to get by with playing Gabbiadini/Austin there with Tadic and Redmond filling in on the wing, I would prefer to have Gabbiadini out on the wing where him cutting in should cause problems for opposition full backs.
Priority number 3 will be finding a starting anchor man as while Romeu is a decent player I would prefer a new player in that position. However, as it is my 3rd priority I may look at playing Romeu and much like i will need to with my backup central midfielders look at brining in capable backups/youngsters to fill the squad out.

So after this I have made the following players available for transfer:
Fraser Forster
Steven Davies

I wanted to make Guido Carrillo available as well but as he’s just joined us I knew no one would want to sign him, therefore I made him available for loan along with:
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg
Jake Hesketh
Josh Sims
Yan Valery
OistyT
6 years ago
1 year ago
20
After making these adjustments to the squad I then went and looked at my coaching team. I immediately terminated the contracts of:
Carlos Compagnucci (assistant manager)
Kelvin Davies (coach)
Xavier Tamarit (coach)

I kept hold of Matt Hale as Head of Youth Development as think he will be a good person to bring in the youth and also David Watson as a goalkeeping coach.

In the scouting department I again started to cull the staff, terminating the contracts of:
Ross Wilson (Chief scout)
Wayne Stephens (scout)
Piotr Kasprzak (scout)

Next of the chopping block was the medical staff with the following being shown the door:
Aleks Gross (Head of Sports Science)
Tom Sturdy (Physio)
Mo Gimple (Sports Scientist - should have tried to renegotiate to be a physio)
Bill Styles (Sport Scientist)

With this day 1 ended and I will now look at recruiting some new coaches and backroom team before moving onto adding to my squad
OistyT
6 years ago
1 year ago
20
Board expectations:
Premier League - Top half finish
FA Cup - Fifth Round
League Cup - Fourth Round

Transfer Budget - £60million
Wage Budget - £1.625million per week

I feel these are very achievable and with a decent budget available, I should be able to bring in the type of player I want to round out my squad.

I started to look for some new coaches and a new assistant manager with the first person through the door being Paul McGuiness who will focus on Ball Control, while the next through the door was 9 year old Karl Hopper from Birmingham who will focus on the defensive side of things.

After my introductory press conference was handled in a calm manner with me advising the media that I’m the spark that Southampton has been needing amongst other things, I got my assistant manager in the house in the form of Wolfgang Rolff. Wolfgang brings a wealth of experience and while not great in any one area, he will allow me to bring in others to focus on other areas.

I continued to strengthen (no pun intended) my backroom staff by bringing in Gabriel Macaya as a fitness coach. Danny Philpott joined as a scout Toninho Cruz arriving as the Chief Scout and Stuart Harvey joining from Blackburn Rovers as another member of the new look scouting department.

In the first bit of transfer news Josh Sims joined Brentford on loan for the rest of the season.

The overhaul of my coaching staff was complete (well as complete as the board would let me) with Nicolas Jover joining from Brentford.

In some transfer news Jake Hesketh moved to Scunthorpe on loan for the rest of the season and I looked at bringing in a new player in the form of Lucas Romero from CEC. I very much doubt the transfer will go through as AS Monaco are also on his tail and have had an offer accepted but bringin Romero would fill the anchor man role instead of Romeu. As pre season draws near however Yan Valery leaves to join Brentford for the season.

Pre-season here we go

In an effort to stop Monaco signing Lucas Romero, I came up with a very cunning plan, well it wasn’t a plan at all as I had already accepted the offer before bidding on Romero but in a twist of fate 32 year old Steven Davies was sold to AS Monaco for £9.5 million with £8.75 of this being added to my transfer fund. This also got £60k a week off the wage bill.
OistyT
6 years ago
1 year ago
20
1st preseason game Vs AAB (A) Won 3-1

I was hopeful of a good result but mindful that as it was early on and some players weren’t used to being in these positions that it may be a struggle.

So in the end a comfortable(ish) win with Hojbjerg coming off the bench and both scoring and creating a chance likely playing himself into a starting berth for the next pre-season game.

Transfer News
After the match Alfie Jones joined Burton for the season.

Before the second of our Scandanavian friendlies took place we got our first new face through the door in Lucas Romero joining in £9.5 million deal from CEC. Romero and Romeu will rotate in the anchor man position until one makes it his own.

2nd preseason game Vs Oostende (A) Won 4-0

Couple of changes from the game vs AAB. Hojbjerg comes in for Ward-Prowse after a decent showing off the bench in the last game. Charlie Austin also starts with Gabbiadini dropping to the bench, while Lucas Romero and Shane Long are part of the match day squad for the first time.

Again, I’m hopeful of a good result but more concerned about building fitness and learning the system.

So a comfortable win with pleasing performances from Charlie Austin with a goal and an assist and Lemina in the middle of the park who scored the pick of the goals.
OistyT
6 years ago
1 year ago
20
3rd preseason game Vs Bromley (A)

I fully rotate my squad with the exception of Charlie Austin keeping his place up front.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/HAg62g1GhLw6HJYQsAJKbZAmlaf1APqJBoxT68xo.jpg

Again I wasn't aiming for anything too exciting but still expceting a win

So a comfortable win in the end with me being 3-0 up at half time, disappointing to concede but more disappointing is the injury to Jack Stephens who will miss 2-3 weeks while he is treated.

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/ahVXWsSsdb06hQkYXKZFcHnb293RWIxABybjhGw9.jpg
sanka
15 years ago
2 months ago
99
mate, could you make your pictures larger ?
OistyT
6 years ago
1 year ago
20
mate, could you make your pictures larger ?


Hi there. I would if I knew how. At the moment I’m having to print screen then use a graphics app to save the print screen. Upload this to imgr then paste the link from there. I’ve actually played the first cpl games of the season but because of this long process when it comes to sharing images it takes too long to update. If there is a quicker way I’ll happily get back into my story
OistyT
6 years ago
1 year ago
20
Just gonna catch everyone up with my dealings so far and how pre-season went

Transfer dealings (so far)
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/658uKTE95U8YDqUkEJtGG58eKrYG6MwDU2VsooM0.jpg

Still need to bring in another one or two players with a striker being a main target despite Austin having a good preseason

Pre-season
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/qLTVpO040BpRW0OHuwzi2zJb2bfQuMribqOafXbG.jpg

This went ok, undefeated with a commanding draw against Juventus
OistyT
6 years ago
1 year ago
20
Start of the season went badly

Away to Man Utd resulted in a very one sided 3-0 defeat for ourselves.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/ehndoddmBpqxTS66c9yB9tyq6CF1E4ISMuimrIg5.jpg

I started with a 4-5-1 counter attack formation but this just wasn't working switching to a 4-2-3-1 formation for the second half which resulted in me conceding 2 late goals
OistyT
6 years ago
1 year ago
20
My second game of the season saw me line up as follows:
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/kMaoGebJjmWvruwEiNtyEdelWmqeEiaPS3aL0pOV.jpg

However despite leading 2-0 at half time, i ended up losing 3-2 at the hands of West Ham as they performed a miraculous comeback

Up next is Peterborough in the Carabo Cup, I was planning on rotating my squad but after 2 defeats I need a morake boosting win so will see a lot of my players start
OistyT
6 years ago
1 year ago
20
So I made a few changes to the line up with me opting for a more attack minded approach
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/o5Tv0Zvl0Bjtydgd9P4NpG3zXC4NzCuXU9cBxHi7.jpg

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/vifaucbKe50NYmFKne062Il0BWPVXrrP23lhtyPp.jpg
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/9SXR1d5POOIABy33hrwlk498TKpdMlsUklLqt9EO.jpg

So a comfortable 4-2 win with me leading 3-0 and 4-1. At 3-0 I maybe should have shut up shop to keep the clean sheet but in an effort to get a more morale boosting victory I'll take the goals conceded. Most pleasing was Tadic's performance in a more central role.
OistyT
6 years ago
1 year ago
20
So after a morale boosting victory over Peterborough, I visited a Leicester team sat 20th after the first 2 games, only below me on goal difference.

I lined up like this for what already felt like a must win game:
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/9kgWUlwvAeeo8K8gZxK2wI046swkmGx5OIXKNiim.jpg

Well i'm just lost for words and struggling to know where to go from here. Think i need to focus on shoring up my defence and my focus has turned from finding a new striker to finding a new right back as the first two goals both were down to Cedric letting Demari Gray in behind him

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/BdBH6oF677gXfdDkhZk57hckUQHpNb9uXpQ0nEOM.jpg
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/FZLkuJA4EK5XsKcG4A9M7zQ1kcCFU2FYkCVowQGu.jpg
OistyT
6 years ago
1 year ago
20
So the transfer window has slammed shut with the following having taken place:
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/FohzxcXRKCSxDUls0k9LT8jj8B8vPuQQp706SWye.jpg

So while not the greatest window in the world one that should help, however if im still here in January I will need to try and reshape my team more especially as I am moving to a different formation.

So I will now take some time out and come back and complete September
OistyT
6 years ago
1 year ago
20
A better September but still room for improvement.

So September resulted in 3 league games as well as a visit to Burnley in Carabao Cup.
https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/3MUR47wopKHStbKk2Z4pwg1lKxwzcFFVpdXa9af9.jpg

So despite losing to Burnley in the Carabao Cup I was happy with September compared to August.

5 points out of 9 in the league should give me cause for promise however I had plenty of chances to beat Crystal Palace and it took a 77th minute equaliser to get the point against. However the 2-1 victory over Arsenal gave me a lot of optimism as Justin Kluivert scored the winner in the 84th minute after coming off the bench and we also looked better when he came on against Stoke meaning he will likely be a feature of the starting XI soon. Also this run of form coincided with not only changing formation but Fraser Forster returning in goal. Now seeing as we've still conceded in 3 of the 4 games this may not be just down to him but will need to see what happens if I bring Timo Horn back in as feel that Horn is the better player for the kind of keeper I want but Forster will be the better keeper in terms of conceding less.

Anyway i'll now post each of the screenshots from my games (I forgot to take screenshots of the match stats post match Vs Arsenal)
OistyT
6 years ago
1 year ago
20
Vs Crystal Palace

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/PzSNtvL4Z8wz33vCPVvQxHAuSGpG7hzWB2cCUkLz.jpg

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/6SNWxAJG3cbtRjTo5wXD74tWUJttKAdW3HAsIRuL.jpg

https://sortitoutsi.net/uploads/mirrored_images/Oxk6E8sS052KO4XVkZdDky9JPJI0ue84IWarteRF.jpg
OistyT
6 years ago
1 year ago
20
OistyT
6 years ago
1 year ago
20
OistyT
6 years ago
1 year ago
20

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