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tongey
You're exceeding expectations once again! Loving the work! Keep getting them Americans in buddy!
HeadCoachFM
Haha yeah man I think he definitely has the skills to play the role I wanted but for some reason his attitude just isn't right in this save, maybe he's better off in America!
HeadCoachFM
In a devastating turn of events, Millen Baars, the joint-2nd highest appearances holder in Nine Elms history, has left the club. Baars appeared in 89 league matches over the last 2 and a half years, contributing greatly to our back-to-back title promotions as my preferred right winger. Only Gideon Adu-Peprah featured in more league matches than Baars at the time of his departure, and Ted Moulden was similarly on 89 league matches at the time. Swansea and several other clubs made some half-assed bids for him over the first 3 weeks of the transfer window, but just 4 days before the window closed Swansea and Preston came in an activated his £550,000 release clause. Hopefully we can show him what he's missing when we get promoted from the Championship in a few years and he's still stuck there with Swansea!
JUST LEAVE ALREADY
It was a long shot, but the toxic Bradley Johnson has refused a mutual termination of his contract. He's just going to keep milking us for all we've got I guess.
Signings
Carlton Morris
I signed Morris for a cut-price £75,000 just a year and a half after Millwall signed him for £525,000. Now this may seem like a bad sign, but I completely ignored it anyways lol. According to my coaches, he would be a "good player for most League One sides" and he could still improve by a slight amount in the future. That analysis is higher than the coaches' analysis for any of my other strikers, and in terms of attributes he has all the properties to make a perfect starting pressing forward in my squad. Hopefully my persistent striker troubles will finally come to an end!
Brad Rodríguez
Rodríguez joined for a whopping £650,000 about halfway through the January window to be my starting goalkeeper for the foreseeable future. At just 18, Rodríguez is operating at a League Two level, with the potential to be a Premier League goalkeeper in the future. Yep, that's right, our first American signing with Premier League potential. It's been a pretty productive transfer window.
Lee Garza
Garza is Millen Baars's replacement, and he's currently operating at a League Two level with the potential to be a Championship player in the future. So essentially he's about the same level/age/potential as Baars, but while I sold Baars for £550,000, Garza cost me just £240. That's £240.00, not £240,000. I'm not sure why his release clause was set so specifically low, but I'm happy it was because this could be the bargain of the century. Plus he's American.
Other Departures
Kyle Connell
Connell isn't leaving permanently, but since his development has stagnated with a lack of game time I've decided to loan him out to Morton in the second tier of Scotland. I'm not sure if this will help much as I don't know how competitive the Scottish Championship is, but hopefully regular game time will benefit him. So far he's made 10 league appearances for Morton since leaving in mid-November and he's scored 4 goals, but has only managed to keep a 6.38 average rating. He's only 19, so he still has plenty of time to continue his development.
James Belshaw
Belshaw has gone in the opposite direction as most of my signings, joining American club Reno 1868 on a free in the USL Western Conference. Belshaw was my starting goalkeeper in League Two, keeping an impressive 20 clean sheets in 44 appearances. He managed to make 9 appearances in League One this season, but I decided to let him go when Reno 1868 came in with their free offer as he simply isn't needed.
Other Transfer News
Tyrone Mings
Can someone please explain how Tyrone Mings has continued to command high transfer fees from Premier League clubs following his £20m transfer to Aston Villa in real life. In this save he made a total of 47(5) appearances in all competitions for Aston Villa before being sold to Watford for £13m just a year and a half later. He then made 35 appearances for Watford and then a year and a half later Newcastle United have bought him for £23m. I just don't get it. Both Villa and Watford were relegated with Mings playing pretty regularly for them in the Premier League. Now Newcastle have signed him to help them get promoted back into the Prem, but then what? They get relegated again and another year and a half later he goes to Palace for £46m? I just don't understand the appeal, lol anyways that's the end of that rant let me know what you think.
HeadCoachFM
This year we've signed 6 new youngsters to the Nine Elms academy, with 2 players standing out as potential future first team players.
Richie Hewitt
Hewitt has the highest current and potential ability of the 6 youth candidates we signed. He plays primarily as a poacher, but his second most competent role is the pressing forward position so I've set his individual training to that.
Jonathan Vásquez
Vásquez has a decent amount of potential too, but I fear he's unlikely to develop past a League One level. Considering the other youth candidates have even less potential, this year's intake wasn't great. Hopefully once we reach the Premier League we'll start gaining a higher level of youth quality so we can begin making some progress on the national level.
Nine Elms Class of '24 Progress
Zach Knowles
Knowles briefly broke into the first team this season, making 9 League One appearances in which he conceded 17 goals and kept 1 clean sheet. Despite these relatively poor numbers, I actually think Knowles performed pretty well as he maintained a 6.87 average rating from those appearances despite averaging almost 2 goals conceded per game. It's likely that this was during a period when my defense was struggling, and Knowles did the best he could. At just 15, Knowles's potential doesn't really have a ceiling according to my staff, so he could potentially go on to become a Championship or Premier League quality goalkeeper.
Matthew Garzi
Garzi has continued to develop well, recently being promoted from the U18s to the U23s at just 15 years old. It seems his potential may be limited to a League One level, however, and once we get promoted I'll have to decide whether it's worth keeping him on.
Nine Elms Class of '23 Progress
Juan Pablo Nava
Nava has managed to make 4 appearances as a substitute in all competitions for me this year, and has developed his physical attributes well. I don't know if he'll grow to become better than a League One level in the future, but at the moment he's still improving steadily.
Phil Flebbe
Flebbe is pretty much in the same boat as Nava, having made 4 appearances (3 as a substitute) in all competitions this year and possessing roughly the same current and potential ability.
HeadCoachFM
Table
We finished in a very respectable 10th place in League One, despite the media predicting us to be in the relegation fight. We never really looked like relegation candidates throughout the season, and remained mid-table for the majority of the year. We only finished 5 points off the playoff so I'm hoping for a promotion push next year, as are several of my players who I made promises to prior to this season.
Results
We kept a reasonably consistent run of form throughout the second half of the season, though we struggled to win for 7 matches between February and late March despite drawing 5 of them. We tended to dominate most games, especially the ones we ended up losing. Constant late errors cost us innumerable points this season, and that could make the big difference next season. I'm in the market for a starting center back to partner Howkins and I'm expanding my options beyond Americans this time, so this should help.
Standout Performers
Adam McDonnell
McDonnell was one of my most consistent performers this season, averaging a 7.06 from 35(6) appearances in all competitions. He scored 3 goals and managed to get 4 assists from the deep-lying playmaker role in defensive midfield. He'll likely remain my starting defensive midfielder next season barring any late transfers.
Joel Asoro
Asoro had a slow start to the season, but really picked up his form and helped us finish in the top half of the table with 8 goals and 6 assists in 24(12) league appearances. I've extended his loan to next season so he can continue to develop while likely playing a rotation role again next year.
Gideon Adu-Peprah
Club legend Adu-Peprah had his best season yet, finishing with a whopping 10 assists in 40(1) league appearances as my starting left back. He's made a total of 108 league appearances throughout our journey from the Vanarama National to League One, but I fear he may not be able to keep up when we get promoted to the Championship. However, he'll keep his spot next season as I look to strengthen other areas of the team.
Ted Moulden
Like Adu-Peprah, Moulden has been with us from the beginning and has amassed over 100 league appearances over the years. Though he struggled initially this season, he kept working hard to develop and has actually grown significantly. He made 39 appearances as my preferred right back, finishing with 5 assists and a 6.95 average rating. At just 20 years old, Moulden could potentially reach a Championship level, but his impressive performances have drawn interest from several Championship clubs ahead of the transfer window. Hopefully I can keep hold of him for the foreseeable future by offering him a fresh contract.
Arun Basuljevic
Basuljevic excelled in the box-to-box midfielder role this season, playing alongside Nydam in a strong midfield partnership supported by McDonnell behind them. He made 34(2) league appearances, scoring 8 goals and gaining 3 assists while maintaining a 7.03 average rating. He will definitely remain in the first team, and will likely remain a starter unless I find someone even better, but that's not one of my priorities.
Notable Departures
Kyle Connell
It's always sad to have to let go of a player who did so much for your team but just isn't good enough anymore. Connell played an important role in our back-to-back title-winning seasons in the National League and League Two, scoring 26 goals in 59 league appearances. He wasn't quite good enough to make the step up to League One, so I loaned him out to Morton in the Scottish Championship, where he scored 5 goals in 19 league appearances. These are hardly prolific numbers, but his attributes grew more than they had for some time while playing for me. Despite this, and his young age, my coaches don't believe Connell will develop past a League Two level so when his agent demanded more than double what I offered I just decided it was time to let him go. Good luck Kyle! I hope you prove me wrong!
Kane Hemmings
When I first signed Hemmings on a free, I thought he would be scoring for fun in League Two. He didn't quite live up to those expectations, but I certainly wouldn't say he flopped. He scored 11 goals and got 2 assists in 20(6) league appearances when we were promoted from League Two, and then played an important role in the first half of the season before I signed Carlton Morris. He managed to score 8 goals in 15(6) league appearances for us this season, most of which occurred before a goal draught. That good run of form helped us greatly while we struggled earlier on in the season, but I will let him go as I've already signed a much better striker.
Collin Martin
Fun fact: Collin Martin is the only openly gay soccer player in the MLS, and is only 1 of 2 openly gay professional soccer players in the world. Just found that out today, figured it was worth mentioning. Sadly, this doesn't really affect anything so I'll be releasing Martin at the end of the season as he's only operating at a Vanarama National League level and won't get much better. He played an important role in our promotion from League Two, but only made 9(13) league appearances this season and didn't do very well with that limited time.
Graham Smith
Like Martin, Smith played a big role last season but featured very little in League One and will be released as a result. I signed Smith for a relatively high £400,000 from LA Galaxy II after our promotion from the Vanarama National League, but he didn't develop as well as I expected and only made 36(8) appearances in the 2 seasons that he played for us. Luckily that fee has been long forgotten by my board and they have continued to pump money into the coffers.
Liam Wakefield
Originally intended to be my starting right back from the beginning of this save, Wakefield ended up being Ted Moulden's backup throughout the last 3 seasons despite being 7 years older. Wakefield made a total of 44(4) league appearances in those 3 years, but it's now time he moved on so I can bring in a better backup or even a competitor for Moulden to spur his development.
Reiss Awuah
Just like Wakefield, I signed Awuah to be a starter but he was quickly replaced by Adu-Peprah in the left back position. He managed to play a first team role in our debut season despite that, operating as a left center back with Adu-Peprah to his left, but has since struggled with his development and only made 6(2) league appearances this season. I'm currently looking for his replacement.
Kyle Scott
I signed Kyle Scott halfway through our first season, and he has since made a total of 53(17) league appearances. When I first signed him, my scouts told me he was operating at a League Two level with the potential to be a Championship midfielder in the future. He is now currently operating at a Vanarama National League level with the potential to be a League Two player in the future. Not sure how that works, as he's only 23 so he hasn't really declined in ability, but regardless he's not good enough to rely on in League One so I'll be bringing in some more solid backup options instead of Scott and Martin. I think this will make a key difference next season, as I hardly rotated my midfield due to the lack of depth in relative quality.
Brad Carr
Carr was one of the OG Nine Elms players, operating as my starting box-to-box midfielder role in our debut season at just 18 years old. He's now 21 and isn't showing much potential following a loan spell with Solihull Moors in the National League, so I'm afraid I'll have to let him go as well. This leaves me with just 3 center midfielders, one of which is far from first team quality. Carr is the last of a long list of former favorites leaving the club; it's been a sad summer. But if we want to keep growing and improving, occasional overhauls are necessary. At the end of the day, that's football!
Other News
Bowler's Back
He didn't really leave that's just the first title that popped in my head lol. Bowler's signed another loan extension, making next season his third with us. He's made a total of 53(10) appearances over the past 2 years, scoring 17 goals and garnering 16 assists while being player of the match 9 times. These are pretty impressive figures considering I haven't spent a cent on him!
MORE UPGRADES
For some reason, playing in the lower leagues for 3 years has significantly downgraded our training facilities from what they were originally set at (in the pre-game editor). Once I noticed this I quickly asked the board to improve the training facilities and they scheduled the renovation to finish in September. Hopefully this will give us a boost in terms of development next season when we make our promotion push.
Just LEAVE Already
I was going to mention Bradley Johnson in the "Notable Departures", but I felt like this deserved a separate section and I didn't want to group Johnson with those club legends. If any of you have been following this last season closely you might've noticed I was complaining a lot about this guy. Well he's finally retiring at the end of the month and I'm just countin' down the days. See ya never Brad!
HeadCoachFM
Our squad has significantly improved in terms of quality and depth from last season, so we're now promotion candidates with 7-1 odds to win the title. This is a promising start!
Board Expectations
The board have set relatively attainable goals, expecting a top half finish (which we achieved last season despite being relegation candidates). Hopefully we can achieve more than that and secure promotion to the Championship for the 2022/23 season.
Transfers
In our highest spending transfer window yet, I brought in 10 new players for a total of £2.3m while selling 4 players for a total of £400,000. The core of my squad will remain largely the same as last season, with the signings providing a mix of rotation options, young prospects for the future, and potential starters depending on their performances.
Owen Culbertson
I signed Culbertson, a young American center back, for £650,000 from the new MLS franchise FC Cincinnati. According to my coaches, he's operating at a Vanarama National level with the potential to be a Championship player in the future. Personally, I think he has the abilities to be a solid rotation option and I think he could push beyond the Championship as he's just 19 years old and has very impressive defensive attributes and well-rounded physical and mental attributes. He's also left-footed, so he can comfortably slot in the LCB position when needed.
Joe Walsh
Walsh was a massive signing for me as he'll provide an experienced, reliable starting option to partner Howkins in the center of my defense this season. Like Culbertson, he's left-footed so he will be my starting LCB, with Howkins to his right.
Luke Clark
Following the departures of Kyle Connell, Kane Hemmings, and Jack McInerney, I decided to sign Luke Clark from Notre Dame on a free transfer. This is a great deal financially, as Clark is already operating at a League One level at just 18, with the potential to be a Premier League striker in the future. He could be with us for the long haul!
Billy Benally
Billy Benally (love the name) joined for a record £1,000,000 from LA Galaxy II. He's currently operating at a League Two level and will rival Adu-Peprah for a starting spot this season. He's got the potential to be a Championship player in the future, but I think he'll be able to reach a Premier League level in the future due to his frankly insane mental attributes. He's got 19 determination, 18 aggression, 14 bravery, 13 decisions, the list goes on. Like Clark and Rodriguez (the young American goalkeeper I signed mid-last season), Benally could be with us for many years!
Cameron Cole
I brought Cole in on loan from Chelsea to provide depth for my midfield following the release of several backup players over the summer. Cole's attributes are very impressive, and he's currently operating at a League One level with the potential to be a Premier League player in the future. I think he's actually operating at a Championship level judging by his attributes in all categories, so he could become an important player for us this season despite his young age.
Other News
TRAITOR
USA legend Jermaine Jones was offered a contract by Swansea to become their U18s assman, so I offered him a new contract with a considerable pay rise. Unfortunately, Swansea offered him £50 per week more and apparently that was enough for him to want to relocate. Snake!
Bye Billy!
Nine Elms legend Billy King has left the club following his transfer listing. It was a difficult decision, but having brought in a higher calibre of wingers into the squad added to the fact that King is more of a winger than an inside forward, it just made sense to move him on while I could still gain a significant profit. King joined on a free from Dundee Utd before our debut season, and went on to make a total of 85 league appearances in the Vanarama National, League Two, and League One. He's now joined Walsall (who are also in League One) for £180,000. Good luck Billy!
HeadCoachFM
Results
We maintained a strong run of form throughout the majority of the first half of the season, but we've struggled in the last few League One fixtures which has seen us drop several places down the table.
Table
We were wrestling with Oxford United for 1st place throughout most of August-November, but following our last 6 league games in which we only won once, we've dropped down to 4th in the table. We're now 5 points off the top, which is now occupied by Coventry as they've been a dominant side of late. Hopefully we can put this disappointing form behind us and make a title push or at least achieve automatic promotion as runners-up in the second half of the season. It'll be tough, but I think if we can avoid more injuries going forward we can do it.
Standout Performers
Harry Chapman
Chapman has turned out to be the bargain of the save for me. After joining on a free during the summer from Blackburn he's contributed 11 goals and 9 assists in 21(1) appearances in all competitions on the left wing. He's maintained an average rating of 7.55, and is by far my best player at the moment. However, he suffered a relatively serious hamstring strain which has sidelined him for over a month. This contributed to our poor form of late, but he's likely to return within the next few fixtures.
Lee Garza
Despite only playing a sporadic role last season, making 10 appearances in the league, Garza has become my first-choice right winger with 6 goals and 5 assists in 15(3) league appearances. At 22 years old, he still has room for improvement and could potentially play a role next season if we get promoted. He's also the first American winger to make a real impact for the club, which gives him bonus points in my book.
Ted Moulden
Moulden has remained my starting right back for the 4th season in a row, and has continued to do an exceptional job. He's maintained an average rating of 7.3 in 16(1) league appearances despite only being 20 years old. He could still "improve significantly" in the future according to my coaches, so he could honestly go the distance with us.
Joe Walsh
After joining for £425,000 from MK Dons despite being 29 years old (I normally don't like to spend so much on older players), Walsh has proven to be worth every penny. He's shored up my defense significantly, forming a solid partnership with Howkins and maintaining an average rating of 7.25 from 18(1) league appearances.
Kyle Howkins
Howkins has continued to be a stalwart in my defense. He's played 21 of a possible 23 games in League One, with an average rating of 7.25, the same as Joe Walsh. While our offense was what carried us last season, we lacked in defense. Now that we have one of the strongest center-back partnerships in the league I think we've got a real chance of making a title push in the second half of the season.
Luke Clark
Young American striker Luke Clark has become my first prolific striker of the save (FINALLY), scoring 11 goals in 19(2) appearances in the league, the highest in League One. This ratio was better before our poor run of form, and Clark hasn't played well in the last few fixtures, but at just 18 years old his future is very bright. He's improving rapidly in terms of attributes, and once he gets his form back hopefully we can put together another string of wins and rise back into the automatic promotion spots.
Other News
Interview Offers
Fulham and Wigan have both offered me job interviews, which I quickly declined. This is flattering and hopefully it spurs the Nine Elms board to extend my contract soon!
Abbott's Leaving
Abbott joined in 2019 for a relatively inflated £400,000, as I thought he would develop more than he has. In three and a half seasons, Abbott has only made 17(28) league appearances as a striker, scoring 12 goals. After I deemed him surplus to requirements, I offered him to clubs and eventually received an offer from the Richmond Kickers in the USL League One (the third division of US soccer) for £62,000. While that's quite a step down, it might be perfect for him. Good luck James!
Grimnir
HeadCoachFM
Table
Just as I had hoped, we secured the title following a strong run of form throughout the second half of the season. Though we struggled between November and December, we managed to get back on track once some of our players returned from injury and never looked like slowing down at any point between January and May. Let the real challenge begin!
Results
As I said above, we struggled throughout December but once we got our form back we continued to dominate the league for the remainder of the season. The title race was close for quite a while after we dropped down into the playoff spots, but once we reached the top spot we didn't fall off once. I'm afraid next season we won't enjoy the same amount of wins, but hopefully we can avoid the drop and make a promotion push within a couple of years to finally secure promotion to the Premier League!
Standout Performers
Luke Clark
Clark has continued to flourish in my fluid attacking system, and hopefully he can maintain his goalscoring form despite some necessary tactical changes ahead of the Championship season. In his debut season, at just 18 years old, Clark scored 26 goals and grabbed 5 assists in 38(5) league appearances. He's now operating at a good Championship level, and has the potential to be a Premier League striker in the future. He could become a star striker for the U.S. national team if he continues his development at this astonishing rate!
Harry Chapman
Chapman wasn't quite as lethal after his injury halfway through the season, but he still managed to finish with some of the best stats of any Nine Elms winger in history, amassing 19 goals and 14 assists in 39(6) appearances in all competitions. He also finished with a 7.34 average rating which was the highest in the squad, and he will likely play a big role next season in the Championship, though I've brought in another left winger who will push him even further (more on that later).
Lee Garza
Garza was very effective on the right wing this season despite my preference to play left-footed players on the right wing (he's right-footed). He managed to score 13 goals and get 6 assists in 25(9) league appearances, playing a vital role in our title-winning season. He will likely play a rotation role next season in the Championship.
Kyle Howkins
Howkins looks set to take the next step up in his career as he maintained a 7.23 average rating from 39 league appearances as my starting right center back. He will likely maintain his solid partnership with Walsh, and then I will decide whether one of them needs replacing next season.
Arun Basuljevic
Basuljevic has continued to exceed expectations, only being reported as a "decent player for most League One sides" at best by my coaches, and yet performing as my best center midfielder in the history of the club. He managed to score 6 goals and gain 13 assists from 41(4) appearances in all competitions, with an average rating of 7.1 as my starting box-to-box midfielder. I've extended his contract with the squad role stated as "backup" so he can continue to contribute to our success for the foreseeable future.
Ted Moulden
Moulden continued to perform throughout the season, and he has now amassed 135 total league appearances for Nine Elms since signing for us in 2018 before our debut season in the Vanarama National League. He finished the season with an average rating of 7.27 from 31(1) league appearances, in which he contributed 1 goal and 6 assists as well as being named player of the match in 7 of those matches (23% of the matches he started!). These are very impressive stats and I've extended his contract as a result, though I fear he may not develop much further according to my coaches and as such I've brought in a more experienced player to compete for the starting right back spot.
Notable Departures
Gideon Adu-Peprah
Sadly, Nine Elms legend Adu-Peprah will be released at the end of June. He's made a total of 129 league appearances across 4 seasons in our rise up the divisions, and has grown along with Moulden as my preferred full-back in this system, until this year when Billy Benally pushed him out of the starting lineup. I'm afraid he's reached his ceiling, and won't be very reliable in the Championship despite his years of service. I'm sad to let him go but I think he'll have a more successful career if I let him go now while he's still relatively young. Good luck Gideon!
Other News
First Premier League Interview Offer
Southampton narrowly avoided relegation to the Championship and sacked long-serving manager Ralph Hasenhuttl as a result. They offered me an interview which I then declined as I'm going to stay at Nine Elms for the remainder of this save, and then hired former Rangers and Wolves manager Steven Gerrard to steer them to safety during the upcoming campaign. Obviously I wouldn't have gotten the job if I had attended the interview anyway!
HeadCoachFM
The Season Preview has us in the relegation discussion, but I think we'll be able to continue our tendency to overachieve and we could secure a mid-table finish in our first Championship season. The board is expecting a minimum mid-table finish, and didn't give me the option to lower the expectations at all so I'll have to make sure I get the most out of the team this season. Our title odds have us positioned closer to the lower-mid-table clubs rather than the actual bottom-of-the-table clubs like Millwall and Bristol Rovers, so that's promising especially considering the relatively young average age among my squad.
Board Expectations
As I mentioned above, the board has set relatively high expectations for our first season in the Championship. They also expect me to reach the 4th round of the FA Cup, which could prove difficult depending on who we draw. This looks to be a difficult season in terms of managing expectations, and there's a very real possibility the board could become impatient despite my years of service if results begin to suffer. I'm pretty happy with the balance of my squad and the potential of some of my young American players so hopefully we can achieve the minimum expectations of finishing mid-table.
Transfers
It was a productive albeit short summer (I'll explain later), and I managed to bring in some high-profile players with loads of potential, particularly in Sepp van den Berg and Timothy Weah who had both failed to impress at the bigger clubs they previously played for. I spent a total of £2.1 million on 8 signings which improved our standing in the Season Preview.
Timothy Weah
Timothy Weah is one of the brightest young American prospects in the world at the moment, and he currently plays for LOSC Lille in real life following his departure from PSG. I've had my eye on him since the beginning of the save and I've finally secured his signing for only £700,000 (plus add-ons). This is a big fee for us at the moment, but Weah has the potential to be a good Premier League winger in the future so he could prove to be worth much more than that in just a few years.
Sepp van den Berg
I was quite surprised when van den Berg was placed on the transfer list by Liverpool, and I was even more surprised when his price tag was set at just £525,000, and I was even MORE surprised when he actually decided to join us. There were several significantly bigger clubs offering him contracts but I bumped up the wage offer and he signed the next day. He's currently operating at a good Championship level with the potential to be a Premier League defender in the future. Welcome to Nine Elms Sepp!
Max Sanders
Another great piece of business, Sanders joined from Brighton on a free transfer at the beginning of July. He's currently operating at a good Championship level with the potential to be a decent Premier League center midfielder in the future. He will likely play as my starting box-to-box midfielder role, with Basuljevic playing backup to him.
Josh Bowler
Bowler has finally officially signed for the club, after spending 3 whole seasons with us on loan from Everton. He made a total of 97 appearances during that time, scoring 27 goals and playing an important role in our rise from League Two to where we are now. He's got the potential to be a leading Championship winger in the near future, and he will likely compete with Garza for the starting role on the right wing.
Darnell Fisher
I signed Fisher from Preston for £350,000 despite his age, as I needed someone to compete with Ted Moulden in the right back role, which I believe he will do well. He's operating at a good Championship level, and his experience will surely help us in our debut season in the Championship, having made 133 Championship appearances for Preston between 2017-2022.
Other News
What the hell's going on with the schedule??
The Championship is beginning midway through July this year, likely due to the ridiculous winter World Cup in Qatar (seriously the dumbest thing I've ever heard, FIFA needs to sort out this corruption ASAP). This could have a positive or negative effect on us once we get to December, as some of the better clubs in the league will likely have players representing their countries while I will probably have less as my squad is quite young and doesn't have the same level of quality as some of the bigger sides in the league. There's really no way to know how it'll go because nobody has ever been stupid enough to suggest hosting the World Cup halfway through the fucking season until now. Anyways, I'll let you guys know how that goes, lol.
VP.
HeadCoachFM
Results
A very strong start to our Championship campaign catapulted us into the promotion battle, and we maintained the strong form throughout the entire first half of the season. This season is unique due to the 2022 winter World Cup in Qatar, which caused the schedule to be started early with a massive 2 month gap between the first 23 and second 23 matches of the season. This could have a huge effect on our form, as our momentum was carrying us throughout most of the season as we have continued to overachieve. Hopefully we can get some early wins in January and find our form early to secure another unexpected promotion.
Table
Our impressive debut season in the Championship has seen us rise to 2nd place, an automatic promotion spot, despite being predicted to finish in the bottom half. I think our team cohesion has helped significantly as well as maintaining momentum from a strong early run of form. Hopefully we can keep this up and get in the Prem next season!
Standout Performers
Harry Chapman
Due to repeated injuries with my key signing, Timothy Weah, Chapman has held his starting spot as my left winger this season and has excelled as a result. He has scored 11 goals and contributed 7 assists in 17(2) league appearances, with the highest average rating in the league (7.62) and his goal tally putting him in 1st for the golden boot. If he can keep this up he may be able to take yet another step up if we get promoted to the Premier League!
Ted Moulden
Despite my signing of Darnell Fisher to be the starting right back, Moulden has fought to stay relevant and has reclaimed the spot for his own, making this his 5th season as my preferred right back since making his professional debut with us in the Vanarama National League at the age of 17. At this rate he could keep his spot in our first season in the Premier League, though I doubt his actual potential ability (programmed into the game) is high enough to compete at that level. But with an average rating of 7.36 from 10(1) league appearances, he could theoretically just continue to overachieve as we have done, we'll see!
Max Sanders
Sanders has displaced Basuljevic as my box-to-box midfielder, to devastating effect. He has the joint-most assists in the league with our very own Harry Chapman (7), and has also pitched in with 5 goals and an average rating of 7.41 in 17(1) league appearances. At 23, he still has the potential to become a Premier League center midfielder so he has proven to be a remarkable investment, considering he was signed on a free.
Josh Bowler
Fan-favorite Josh Bowler has fought to stay relevant, as Timothy Weah's absence allowed more game time to the other wingers in the squad. Bowler is now a leading player for most Championship sides, with the potential to be a Premier League winger in the future. He's scored 4 goals and contributed 3 assists in 12(5) league appearances, setting his total league appearance tally for the club at 112. Already a club legend, Bowler could spend the rest of his career with us at this rate!
Joe Walsh
Somehow, at the age of 30, Walsh has continued his development and actually increased some of his attributes to make the step up to the Championship with us. He's started 16 of the possible 23 league matches this season, maintaining a 7.35 average rating which has helped us fight for the automatic promotion spot we currently sit in. Walsh is also the only Nine Elms player to be called up for the World Cup this year, so I'm rooting for Wales in Qatar!
Other News
Academy Recruitment
I noticed as I was retraining some of my young players in different positions that the U18s and U23s were struggling in their respective groups, with a lack of quality and depth at both levels. I decided to scour the NCAA D1 universities in America and scout every promising prospect. The results were actually pretty successful, as I found a right back, 2 center midfielders, and a striker that all signed for frees and will join once they turn 18. I also signed a few American free agents that were given trials, setting the total youth recruitment haul at 7 players, all with Championship potential or higher. Not bad considering we haven't even had our annual youth intake yet!
They Brought it Home!
Place your bets now, Football Manager has predicted England to win the 2022 Qatar World Cup in a 1-0 win over Italy, with Harry Kane scoring the all-important goal. Hopefully the U.S. can win the next one!
HeadCoachFM
We did it boys, 4 promotions in 5 seasons, all without playing a single playoff game. I've never had such a successful run through the lower leagues in any of my past saves but that's likely because of the club infrastructure and financial backing at Nine Elms. Still, a great achievement! We are now heading into our debut season in the English Premier League with a hugely inexperienced squad so we're probably going to struggle for once, but I'm excited!
Table
It was an intense title race, and I thought we were going to clinch it before Leeds came flying in at the very end of the season and stole the title away from us with a ruthless run of form. Despite the disappointment on missing out on the title, we managed to avoid the playoffs yet again by finishing 2nd and securing automatic promotion to the Premier League.
Results
Just as I had feared, the winter World Cup had a negative impact on our momentum, and we struggled to find our form throughout January. However, once we finally got that first win we absolutely dominated for 2 whole months, winning 9 matches in a row before losing our form a bit in the last stretch of fixtures. Considering we were in 2nd exactly halfway through the season, I think it's a fair finish.
Standout Performers
Luke Clark
The young American striker who lit up League One for us before this season struggled to find that same level early on in the year, but during the second half of the season he absolutely wrecked it. He catapulted himself onto the top scoring charts, narrowly missing the Golden Boot by just 1 goal after he scored 22 times in 40 league appearances. He also contributed 5 assists, and at just 19 he's been capped for the U.S. 5 times now. He will be my starting striker next season as I believe he will be able to take the next step up already!
Max Sanders
Sanders is the box-to-box midfielder I've been looking for since the beginning of this save. He contributed an impressive 11 goals and 12 assists in 36(1) league appearances as a center midfielder, keeping an average rating of 7.42. I think he's more than ready for the Premier League if he can perform at the same level again next season, or even further his development and taking it to the next level.
Josh Bowler
Bowler was one of my most consistent performers, contributing 12 goals and 11 assists from both wings in 29(7) league appearances. He's currently operating on a leading Championship level, but my coaches seem to think he's reached his ceiling. I still believe he can make an impact for us and he'll likely be playing a backup/rotation role for now.
Timothy Weah
Weah had a worrying start to the season, getting injured a total of 6 times between July and January, but just as I had begun to lose faith in him he managed to pick himself up and score 7 goals while getting 5 assists in the tail end of the season. If he can stay fit next season he could fulfill the potential he has shown in real life and hopefully he can become a Nine Elms legend in the future.
Notable Departures
Kyle Howkins
Nine Elms legend Kyle Howkins will spend the next season on loan at Sunderland in the Championship until he leaves on a free next summer, as I don't think he's good enough to step up to the Premier League. Perhaps if we get relegated I'll extend his contract another year so he can help us bounce back, but past that I don't think he's worth keeping on. Howkins has made a total of 130 league appearances over the past 4 seasons, securing a spot in the all-time "Best Eleven" of the club. Good luck Kyle!
Adam McDonnell
McDonnell joined the same year as Howkins, and went on to make 120 league appearances over 4 years as my preferred defensive midfielder. He's not at the level required for the Premier League, though, so he will be released at the end of June.
Brad Rodriguez
The young American keeper was supposed to be my long-term goalkeeper from our first season in League One all the way up to the Premier League. I even chose him as my vice captain this season but when Jurgen Klopp's RB Leipzig came in with a £1.7m offer, Rodriguez had his heart set. I had noticed his development was slowing and he wasn't very motivated like the other players in the squad throughout much of his time here, so I figured I would let him go and find a better option, and I believe I did. Rodriguez made a total of 90 league appearances over the last 2 and a half years, conceding 87 goals while keeping 34 clean sheets. Like Howkins, Rodriguez holds a spot in the "Best Eleven" (for now).
Lee Garza
I was advised to renew Garza's contract, but I decided not to as I don't believe he will develop past a Championship level and he's not the type of winger I generally go for. Despite this, he was able to fight his way into my team throughout much of our title-winning League One season, and made a total of 66 league appearances over the last 3 years, scoring 19 goals and getting 11 assists. His agent demanded nearly £500,000 for the "Agent Fee" in addition to other relatively inflated demands so I decided to just walk away from negotiations and set him for release.
Carlton Morris
Morris played the backup role to Luke Clark very well, scoring 20 goals in 66 appearances, many of which were substitute appearances when he didn't receive much time to make an impact. Despite these impressive numbers, I don't believe he would be very effective in the Premier League so I've decided to let Luton take him on loan to pay his wages while his contract runs out.
Cameron Cole
Cole has spent the last 2 seasons on loan with us from Chelsea, and he's made a total of 48 league appearances in that time. He has a relatively high ability in relation to the other center midfielders in the squad, but he's just never performed very well or very consistently so I've decided not to make an offer for another year and instead search for some better options in the middle of hte park.
Other News
I GOT A REAL TRANSFER BUDGET
After years of fluctuating budgets between £1-3m, I have finally been given a reasonably substantial transfer budget of nearly £35m.
I USED THE TRANSFER BUDGET
I wasted no time using the money to continue the heavy youth recruitment I had done throughout much of the season, as well as securing several very, very, good signings. I'll go into more detail about the transfers in the Season Preview, so I'll leave at this for now.
HeadCoachFM
The press has little faith in us ahead of our debut season in the Premier League, putting our title odds at 1000-1. Considering we've overachieved every single season since the beginning of this save, it's not so farfetched to think we can do it again (though not to the same extent). Surviving the first season in the Prem is vital to long-term success in these saves, so I'll be doing everything I can to ensure we don't go down.
Board Expectations
The board has again set pretty low expectations, requiring us to just "fight bravely against relegation," so my job appears safe for the foreseeable future, despite the fact that my contract is due to expire at the end of the season. The cup expectations are relatively attainable as usual, and I'll be focusing all of my energy on the league this season.
Transfers
With considerable investment from the club owner, it has been a busy transfer window. I made a total of 10 first team signings, as well as making 6 youth signings while selling/loaning 6 players out. Our net spend was £23.75m, and I'm very happy with the results.
In
Oliver Skipp
Everyone who plays FM religiously knows that Oliver Skipp is one of the brightest young English talents in the Premier League right now, and I was very surprised that I was actually able to sign him for just £10m from Wolves. He will operate as my primary defensive midfielder, and hopefully he can fulfill that potential that he has shown in real life!
Davide Bettella
Another £10m signing, Bettella will partner Sepp van den Berg in the center of my defense, with both showing great current and potential ability at relatively young ages. Hopefully they can provide a solid platform of distribution as ball-playing defenders in my system.
Alex Centelles
Centelles was an absolute bargain-buy, signing for just £6m despite his immense potential and impressive current ability. At 23, he still has a couple years to reach his full potential, and hopefully that can be with us in the Premier League. He has a £67m release clause, so this could be my best piece of business so far.
Bukayo Saka
Saka was another bargain, joining for only £4.3m from Arsenal even though he is still showing great potential at the age of 22. Saka hasn't been training well and his attitude may be the reason why he came so cheap, but my skill set revolves around motivating and man management so I thing I'll be able to get the most out of him.
Lee Dong-Hyun
Having spent the entire summer from the moment we were promoted from the Championship looking for a new right back, I finally discovered Lee Dong-Hyun playing for Okayama FC in Japan on deadline day (not even sure if they play in the J-League, or any league for that matter). Despite the obscurity of his origins, he actually came to us already at a Premier League level, with the potential to improve more in the future. Dong-Hyun will hopefully help us commercially in Japan, as big signings from lower-ranked nations often open up revenue streams in those countries (think Mo Salah for Liverpool/Egypt). Soon everyone in Japan will be wearing a Nine Elms jersey with Dong-Hyun's #33 on the back and I'm gonna be raking in the cash!
Josh Dasilva
While I normally only include the basic info in these screenshots, I just wanted to demonstrate the extent of Josh Dasilva's versatility by including his playable positions in the image. He can quite literally play anywhere on the field lol. Signed for just under £1m, Dasilva still possesses the potential to be a "good Premier League center midfielder" and his versatility will no doubt come in handy.
Rob Williams
Williams adds to the growing list of players I have that are part of the U.S.A. National Team setup, with Timothy Weah and Luke Clark also featuring more recently in the Gold Cup. The purpose of this save is to improve the U.S.A. National Team, so now that we're in the Premier League I can begin to make some progress on that goal. As such, I will continue looking for relatively young players like Rob Williams in the hopes that I can take them to the next level. Williams replaces Brad Rodriguez, the U20 U.S.A. goalkeeper who operated as my starting keeper throughout League One and the Championship.
Out
Josh Bowler
In an unexpected turn of events, Josh Bowler and I had a bit of a falling out over contract negotiations and he subsequently requested to leave, resulting in his sale to Brighton for £10.5m. Bowler made a total of 139 league appearances throughout his Nine Elms career, scoring 39 goals and getting 34 assists while becoming a fan-favorite as a versatile winger. Though Bowler was an important part of our squad, I don't believe he would've ever been able to take us to the "next level" so to speak, and the fee I received was reasonable so I decided to let him go.
Darnell Fisher
Due to Fisher's age, I decided to sell him while I could and replace him with a younger option. He attracted interest from several clubs including Huddersfield, who bought him for £625k, nearly double what I signed him for a year ago. Great business in my opinion!
Other News
Nine Elms Class of '23 Graduates
The first generation of original Nine Elms academy products have just turned 18, and subsequently been released by the club due to their lack of substantial potential. Nevertheless, they have nearly all found clubs in the NCAA D1 Championship in the U.S., though I don't believe they will ever make an impact at the national level as I had hoped. Good luck boys!
U.S.A. National Team Progress
The U.S. has failed to make any real progress since the beginning of the save, actually dropping 2 places in the world rankings from 22 to 24 despite winning the Gold Cup in 2021 and finishing runners-up in the Nations League and the Confederations Cup Playoffs. Hopefully now that we're in the Premier League this will begin to change. In the last year I've signed 16 young American players with Championship potential or higher (according to the scouts, not definite), with 4 more joining in January. If just a handful of these players can grow to become Premier League-quality, then the U.S. National Team will automatically be improved by depth alone. Our youth facilities are still "state of the art" while our training facilities are "great" so I will continue to focus on recruiting young American talent in the hopes that tangible progress will be made over the next few years. If the U.S.A. manager is sacked at any point, I may consider applying for the job and managing both, but we'll talk about that if/when it actually happens.
HeadCoachFM
Table
In classic Nine Elms fashion, we overachieved massively in our Premier League debut season, finishing 13th with 49 points, nearly double the amount of minimum points we would've needed to survive. Obviously 40 points is normally the safety net, but this season the bottom teams were particularly bad. Stoke, Norwich, and Leeds were all relegated while we were on course to finish 8th before a horrid run in the last 8 games in which we failed to win a single one. Nevertheless, a safe mid-table finish was a great result considering we were relegation favorites!
Standout Performers
Andreas Skov Olsen
Olsen practically drove our attack in the first half of the season, scoring 11 goals and getting 2 assists in 22(3) league appearances from the right wing. His form dropped dramatically in the second half of the season, and I'm not sure but I think he scored all 11 of his goals before January which put him at the top of the scoring chart. He was originally supposed to be my backup winger as he came on loan after we permanently signed Bukayo Saka, but he eclipsed Saka as my first-choice and I'm looking at signing him on a permanent deal ahead of the new season.
Luke Clark
Clark adapted well to the step up to the Premier League, scoring 9 goals and getting 4 assists in 26(1) league appearances. Though he didn't quite reach the same level of proliferation, his impact became apparent when he sustained a groin strain which sidelined him for the last 6 matches of the game, in which we failed to win a single game and only scored in half of them. Clark's form has earned him a total of 17 caps for the U.S. National Team, but he's only scored twice in that time. I think Josh Sargent is currently the first-choice striker for the national team so it may take a few years for Clark to make the spot his own, but I believe he can do it.
Notable Departures
Arun Basuljevic
Basuljevic became somewhat of a cult hero throughout our rise from League One to the Premier League, constantly defying expectations to continue performing at each level. He made a total of 103 league appearances for us, scoring 12 goals and getting 14 assists. He simply isn't good enough to make an impact in the Premier League, though, so I let him go to LA Galaxy II on a free in February where he seems to have regained his form. This is a nice change as most of the Americans I send back to the USL end up killing their careers!
Ben Close
Close only spent a year and a half with us, but was my preferred defensive midfielder when we won the Championship. However, at 27 years old, he wasn't getting any better and I decided to transfer list him in January before selling him to Swansea for a discounted £275,000 (down from the £475,000 I spent on him).
Nine Elms Class of '24 Graduates
This year we have 3 academy graduates, 2 of which have been released while Zack Knowles will continue his development with us for the time being. Brendan Seal has followed previous graduates Juan Pablo Nava and Phil Flebbe to the NCAA in America, while Maciel has chosen his Portuguese nationality over America and will likely either retire or end up in the Portuguese lower divisions due to his low potential and low current ability. I'm hoping as we continue to improve our reputation we'll be able to produce higher potential academy players, though the United States' youth rating in the game likely isn't helping this problem. However, I've come up with a solution!
The Chelsea Method
In the last 2 years or so, I've signed upwards of 20 promising young American players on free transfers from the NCAA and the USSDA, and due to the size of both league systems there is an abundance of regens so I've been scouring American universities for diamonds in the rough. Another problem surfaced however, as I have had trouble finding clubs to loan these players to. I then made a board request to find an affiliate club to loan players to and AFC Fylde became our affiliate shortly thereafter. They are currently in League Two, which is the perfect level for many of the youngsters and hopefully getting them promoted will provide valuable experience for whichever U23 players I choose to send!
Other News
USA Player of the Year
Clark unexpectedly won USA Player of the Year as well as USA Young Player of the Year, while narrowly missing out on the European Golden Boy award in 2023. At 20 years old, this is quite an achievement though my coaches believe he is already operating at close to his full potential. Hopefully they're wrong because I don't think Clark is at the level we need to start pushing for a top 6 finish!
HeadCoachFM
Our odds remain unchanged from last season, though we're not at the bottom of the Season Preview this year. Considering how we did last year I'm not too worried as I think I've strengthened the squad in all the right areas! Clearly it's going to take a few years to be able to break the top 6, so I've scrapped the mid-season reviews as they were really just slowing me down. So from here on out it'll just be the season previews and the season reviews for each year.
Board Expectations
The board has raised their expectations somewhat, now expecting me to avoid relegation rather than just fighting bravely against it. That's fair, and I think it's relatively attainable considering we finished with 49 points last year.
Transfers
It was another busy summer as the board gave us around £50m to spend, and after selling 6 players for a total of £27.5m I had plenty more to invest. I spent £84m on 7 signings, most of which will be starters.
In
Ethan Horvath
After selling both of my first team keepers, I offered nearly £16m to Club Brugge for the first-choice U.S.A. keeper, Ethan Horvath. I'm very happy with this signing as he's operating on a decent Premier League level and I believe he's an improvement on our previous keepers. He also adds to the growing list of Nine Elms players currently playing for the U.S.A. National Team and I think if we can create some cohesion in the national team by having them play together week-in, week-out we can ensure growth.
Cameron Carter-Vickers
Like Horvath, Cameron Carter-Vickers holds a steady starting role in the national team and after joining for just £7m from Basaksehir in Turkey with several good years left in him, I think he'll turn out to be a great signing. We lacked depth in the center back department last season so he will fill that gap perfectly while pushing van den Berg and Bettella to perform to keep their spots.
Sergio Beccacece
After failed attempts to sign American center-mids Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams, I turned my attention to Beccacece. He became our record signing when he joined from Marseille for £26m. He's currently operating at a "good" Premier League level and he has the potential to be a "leading Premier League center midfielder in the future" according to my scouts and my coaches, so it seems I may have found my first world-class potential regen gem of this save. Though I would've preferred it if he were American, I'll certainly take him!
Callum Hudson-Odoi
To my surprise, Hudson-Odoi was transfer-listed by Crystal Palace after failing to reach the potential that he promised during his time at Chelsea. I've decided to sign him as a backup/rotation option on the left wing to increase the depth in that position after the sale of Harry Chapman. He only cost me £8.5m which is crazy to imagine considering how much Bayern Munich were willing to invest in him last year in real life.
Andreas Skov Olsen
After almost re-signing Josh Bowler for half the price we sold him to Brighton for, I pulled out of the deal last-minute and instead opted to buy Skov Olsen due to his impressive performances for us on loan last season. He will be my preferred right winger with Bukayo Saka playing backup, as I don't think Saka will reach his full potential while Skov Olsen has continued to improve already.
Nate Stover
Stover is one of the brightest young American prospects I've seen yet, and he's on a similar level to Luke Clark despite being a year younger. I think he'll add much-needed depth to our attack as we struggled greatly when Clark was injured at the end of last season. My coaches believe he could still improve a lot in the future, so he could even displace Luke Clark at some point!
Ignacio Aguilar
Last season the right-back spot was probably our biggest weakness, with all three options failing to impress or gain any kind of consistency. As a result I've brought in Aguilar for nearly £9m and he's operating at a "good Premier League level" at only 23, so I believe he could still improve. Hopefully he proves to be a long-term solution!
Out
Tristan Nydam
Signed for £325,000 in 2020 from Ipswich ahead of our debut season in League One, Nydam has since made 138 league appearances across 4 seasons. I'm really happy with how far he's come as a player and how much he helped us through the divisions, but with the signing of Beccacece and our need to continue improving in order to survive it just made sense to let him go to Norwich with only 1 year left on his contract. Norwich bought him for £10.5m, so not only did he contribute greatly as a captain and an important midfielder for several years, but we made a substantial profit on his sale and he will now get more game time. Overall a great deal, good luck Tristan!
Harry Chapman
This transfer was years in the making, as Chapman attracted Portsmouth's interest just a few games into his Nine Elms career in 2021, when he joined on a free transfer after being released by Blackburn. Chapman absolutely lit up League One and the Championship, while helping as a rotation option in the Premier League last season. In total he made 94 league appearances primarily on the left wing, scoring 29 goals and getting 22 assists. With only a year left on his deal and his relatively low ability in relation to the standard of the Premier League, I decided to sell him to his long-time admirers, Portsmouth, for £7.5m. This fee was more than 10x what they offered about a year and a half ago when we were in the Championship, so I'm very happy with this deal!
Rob Williams
Williams had a decent season with us last year and is the third-choice U.S.A. keeper, but I felt he wasn't going to improve any more and he wasn't quite at the level I was hoping for so I decided to sell him to Olympiakos for £7m. I signed him on a free only a year prior so this was yet another profitable deal, which I feel I've been doing very well in this save.
Ted Moulden
Nine Elms legend and longest-standing squad member Ted Moulden has left the club after 6 years of service, in which he made a total of 177 league appearances as the club's highest appearance-maker in its history. His ability to continue performing at each stage shocked me each season, and he actually gained American citizenship and eligibility to play for the U.S.A. National Team just a few months before leaving. He joined us on a free from Bolton at just 17 years old in 2018, and has now left for £1m to Chesterfield in League One, now aged 23. Hopefully he can kick on and earn a spot in the national team. If I ever get the job I'll make sure I give him at least 1 cap!
Joe Walsh
With just a year left on his deal, I managed to sell Walsh to Preston for £325,000 despite his age. He was incredibly important in solidifying my defense throughout League One and the Championship, but wasn't quite good enough for the Premier League and is now back in the Championship where I believe he'll do well.
Other News
Facilities
Uncle Sam has continued his heavy investment in youth development, improving our youth facilities yet again to keep up with the best academies in the world. Due to our secure finances I then asked the board for our training facilities to be improved as they have only been at a "good" level for several years now, and the board accepted! Not only will this encourage the development of all our players, but it will increase the club's reputation, drawing better talent, coaches, and more fans to the club down the line.
U.S.A. Call-Ups
Having played a little bit into the season, the first round of call-ups has occurred and we now have 4 players in the U.S.A. squad. Horvath, Carter-Vickers, and Luke Clark are all starters for the national team, while Weah doesn't seem to fit into the 4-4-2 formation as he's more of an inside forward on the wing rather than a natural striker or left midfielder. Hopefully the manager spot is vacated soon so I can change this and have him play a bigger role. We also had a young striker, Shane O'Brien, called up to the U20s while one of my U23 center midfielders was also called up to the U.S.A. U19s. This is real progress in the purpose of this save!
England Job Offer
Much to my surprise, I was offered the England job despite not even applying or interviewing for it. I declined the job as I'm only interested in managing Nine Elms and the U.S. National Team in this save so I can focus on the goal of improving U.S. soccer as a whole. However, this offer means that I would likely get the job if I applied for the U.S.A. seat!
New Stadium
In a strange turn of events, the board has begun planning for the construction of a new stadium, potentially in New York City in the United States. This would be a hell of a commute! The high maintenance costs of the Embassy Stadium in Battersea, London, are the reason. We normally don't get more than 30,000 spectators except for the occasional big game, so this makes sense somewhat considering our capacity is 99,000. Still, I would prefer if the stadium was built in London near the embassy and not across the Atlantic.
HeadCoachFM
Table
Our second year in the Premier League was difficult, but we finished in the same position as last season (13th) despite only managing 45 points with a -15 goal difference rather than the 49 points and -13 goal difference we achieved last term. Considering we were relegation candidates again I suppose it's still a good finish, but I would've preferred to see an improvement from last season and hopefully with the right additions we can push for a top 10 finish next year.
Standout Performers
Max Sanders
Despite my plans to use Sanders as more of a rotation option due to his displacement from the box-to-box midfielder role by the signing of Sergio Beccacece, he actually became my preferred carrilero alongside Beccacece in the starting XI in the second half of the season. Sanders made 27(5) appearances in all competitions, scoring 9 goals and getting 5 assists from center-mid, which contributed greatly to several of our wins toward the end of the season. Sanders is also our current captain after the departure of Tristan Nydam over the summer, so he will stay on next season though I might consider bolstering my midfield options even further.
Timothy Weah
Weah has finally found the form that I knew was in him after 2 inconsistent seasons with us. He managed to score 12 goals and get 6 assists in 25(9) league appearances, making him our top scorer for the season. He maintained a 7.15 average rating in the league, which is very good considering our relatively poor record this year. Despite this impressive form he has had trouble breaking into the U.S.A. National Team lineup due to the manager's stubborn 4-4-2 formation. Hopefully he can continue this way next season and eventually I'll become U.S.A. manager and find a spot for him.
Andreas Skov Olsen
Skov Olsen mirrored his debut season with us by having an explosive first half of the season followed by a pretty disappointing and inconsistent second half. Nevertheless, he contributed 10 goals and 7 assists in 25(2) league appearances from the right wing which helped greatly and justified his price tag. If he can have a full, consistent season with us I believe he has the quality to compete with the top scorers in the league. I just need to find a way to keep him focused and motivated later in the season.
Davide Bettella
In Raheem Sterling-fashion, Bettella has been nominated for the "Young Player of the Year" award at the age of 25. Bettella has proven to be worth every penny of the £10m I spent on him, and he made 28 Premier League starts this year, keeping a solid average rating of 6.97 and being my most consistent defender throughout the year. Consistency is a problem across my entire squad, but Bettella stands out in this department.
Notable Departures
Zach Knowles
Long-standing squad member (perhaps our longest-standing squad member at the time of his departure) Zach Knowles has left the club after 6 years in the Nine Elms academy. During that time he had several chances to break through but never showed any real improvement in his game. He managed to make 14 league appearances over the years, including a run of 4 matches in the Championship when he was called upon because of injuries and actually managed to impress. He has now gone to Denver University in the NCAA, just like many of the other Nine Elms academy graduates.
Josh Dasilva
Just a year and a half after signing him, I decided to sell Dasilva in order to continue improving the weaker areas in the squad. He joined for just £975,000 from Sheffield United in the summer of 2023 and sold for £8,750,000 in January 2025, so I think I've done another good piece of business here.
Ethan Horvath
Our goalkeeper woes have continued, as I apparently promised Horvath that we'd finish top half in order to convince him to sign for us. After failing to achieve that target, the first-choice U.S.A. keeper handed in a transfer request and will likely be leaving over the summer. Though it was nice to have the national team keeper in the squad, he didn't have a very good debut season for us and I think we'll actually be better off with a different keeper, though I doubt he'll be American.
Nine Elms Class of '25 Graduates
Richie Hewitt was the only member of the Class of '25 that made it through the academy, but still didn't reach the level I had hoped for and was subsequently released on a free to the University of Alabama.
Other News
We Absolutely SMACKED Spurs
In our record biggest win (and probably Tottenham's biggest loss of all time), we somehow managed to come back from an early 0-1 concession to beat the top 6 giants 9-1 despite using a "Defensive" mentality. Our striker, Nate Stover, had previously gone 13 hours without scoring a goal before netting 4 times against the poor Spurs keeper. It was brutal, but our goal difference would've been much worse if we hadn't won in this fashion and I was delighted.
Clark Wins it Again!
Clark has secured the USA Young Player of the Year award yet again, despite being injured for large parts of the season. This adds to his growing list of honors, and I think he could really become a USA legend in the future.
HeadCoachFM
Season Preview
I've decided to scrap the season preview as well as the mid-season review posts to streamline this save even further so from now on I'll only be posting season reviews and high-profile international competition reviews (such as the 2026 World Cup). Prior to the 2025/26 season, the bookies gave us title odds of 650-1, an improvement on the 1000-1 odds we had in our first 2 Premier League seasons. This put us in 17th in the Season Preview, and yet again we massively overachieved and finished in our highest position yet.
Table
Amazingly, we managed to secure Europa League qualification by finishing 6th ahead of Liverpool after they suffered a dismal season under Jorge Jesus and only slightly improved under Eddie Howe. I honestly thought it would take a year or two more to break the top 6, but Liverpool only managed to get 63 points which opened the door for Burnley enter the top 6 race until we pushed them out of contention. Notably, Everton were relegated for the first time in 72 years after finishing with just 31 points despite being tipped to finish 7th with an outside chance of breaking the top 6 in the Season Preview. It seems we've nearly swapped places! Our total of 65 points was a massive 20 points higher than our tally last season, and we managed to improve that much with only a net spend of £500,000!
Transfers
As I said before, we only had a net spend of £500k due to some shrewd business over the summer, with no January transfer activity despite having an extra £45m to spend. After making some key summer signings, I just didn't see any further areas of the squad that needed strengthening or any players worth buying at the time.
Out
Ethan Horvath
After failing to secure a top 10 finish in the 2024/25 season, Horvath put in a transfer request and was subsequently sold to Watford (who then finished 3 places below us) for £20m. This was a very good price for his age and relative ability, and the £4.25m profit nearly fully covered the expense for his replacement who turned out to be a significant improvement.
Bukayo Saka
Saka failed to develop much after joining us ahead of our debut season in the Prem, only scoring 7 goals and gaining 7 assists in 36(12) appearances which wasn't quite the level I was looking for in my inside forwards. I then sold him to Portsmouth where he replaced former Nine Elms legend Harry Chapman and joined up with former Nine Elms fan-favorite Josh Bowler for £10.5m, a £6.2m profit. He went on to have another average season with them in the Premier League but helped them survive relatively comfortably despite their expected relegation.
Callum Hudson-Odoi
Like Saka, Hudson-Odoi lacked the qualities I hoped he would display as an inside forward playing on the wing and after just one season with us I sold him to Wolves for £14m, a £5.5m profit. He struggled to get into the Wolves team, and only made 1(5) appearances in the Premier League. It seems he won't reach the promising potential he has shown in real life and will likely end up with a rather disappointing career as Wolves are his 4th club in 4 years and it seems he will likely move on yet again.
In
Weston McKennie
McKennie has been the first name on my shortlist since the beginning of the save, so I was delighted when he finally became interested in joining the club last season and I was willing to spend nearly anything to secure his signature so he could become Sergio Beccacece's partner in the midfield. I managed to sign him for a very reasonable £20m and he then made 30(2) Premier League appearances primarily as my carrilero alongside Beccacece and Oliver Skipp in the midfield, with an average rating of 7.00 as well as 5 goals and 4 assists. He clearly had a positive effect as we secured our highest-ever finish in the top flight.
Alessandro Plizzari
Plizzari has finally solved the goalkeeping issues that have plagued us for years now, finishing with an impressive 13 clean sheets and only conceding 42 goals in 37 appearances. This was a huge improvement from last season when Ethan Horvath conceded 66 goals in the same amount of matches. Horvath originally cost me £15.75m and was sold the next summer for £20m which netted a profit of £4.25m. I then bought Plizzari from AC Milan for just £4.5m, so Horvath's deal pretty much funded Plizzari's transfer and thank God for that! Plizzari has never been capped for the Italian National Team at the age of 26 and if he still hasn't been capped in a few years he could potentially declare for the U.S. National Team once he gains citizenship (if he stays that long). Though he would be around 30 at that time he could still have several good years as the U.S.A. #1 if a better American hasn't come along by then. Only time will tell!
Gerard van Gool
Amid growing concerns among the players about a lack of depth in defense, I signed the young Dutch newgen Gerard van Gool for £9m to operate as a backup option who could potentially break through in the next year or two. Instead, van Gool quickly became my most reliable center back ahead of even Davide Bettella who was our undisputed strongest center back since our promotion to the Prem. van Gool made 30(1) league appearances as my right central defender with David Bettella operating as a ball-playing defender to his left. It's no coincidence that this was our highest-ever finish in the league and our highest points tally by far, and van Gool will hopefully continue to improve rapidly and potentially become a Nine Elms legend for years to come.
Tiago Dias
Despite selling both Saka and Hudson-Odoi, I decided to only sign one replacement winger to give some of my younger academy players a chance to come through as backup players (more on that later). Dias fit the profile of an inside forward more than Saka and Hudson-Odoi, so I signed him for £11.5m to operate as a rotation option behind Andreas Skov-Olsen and Timothy Weah. He made 9(20) Premier League appearances and scored 4 goals while getting 2 assists and maintaining an average rating of 7.00. This is roughly the same output that Saka and Hudson-Odoi had, but I felt he contributed more overall by having a better average rating and being more consistent and reliable in general. I'll likely keep him on for another year or two before opting to sell and replace him for a profit.
Standout Performers
Shawn Dufty
Mere days after the summer transfer window slammed shut and I had made the bold decision of only signing one replacement winger for the departing Saka and Hudson-Odoi, Timothy Weah suffered "damaged cruciate ligaments" and was sidelined for about 7 months. As Tiago Dias functioned better on the right wing with a strong left foot to cut inside on, I decided to hand the starting role to the young Shawn Dufty, who was operating at a League One level at the time. Despite his inexperience (he had only made 14 total appearances in his career with North Carolina in the NCAA in 2023) and relatively low attributes, Dufty excelled and actually managed to defend his spot when Weah returned. Dufty is now operating at a "decent" Premier League level after a very impressive breakout season in which he made 28(4) league appearances with 7 goals, 8 assists, and an average rating of 7.06. I'm very excited to see how much he will improve in the future as he could improve "significantly" according to my coaches.
Luke Clark
After struggling with injuries last season, Clark came into his own and scored 18 goals in 31(2) league appearances which saw rotation strikers Shane O'Brien and Nate Stover struggle to get much game time. Clark was runner-up for the Golden Boot, finishing only behind Kylian Mbappe who now plays for Manchester United. Mbappe finished with 22 goals in 36 appearances so Luke Clark's ratio was very near the 2-time Ballon D'or winner's (though Mbappe's average rating of 7.62 and 17 assists definitely set him apart from Clark and the other strikers in the league). Clark's record also saw him finish far ahead of U.S.A. first-choice striker Josh Sargent, who only managed to score 5 goals in 13(15) appearances for Chelsea. It seems Clark may win U.S.A. Player of the Year again at the end of 2026!
Andreas Skov-Olsen
Skov-Olsen has continued to be our most creative winger, with 13 goals and 7 assists in 29(2) league appearances. He tends to go on streaks where he will score constantly and then go on a ridiculously long draught with his average rating dropping for several consecutive matches before picking up his form again. All players have ups and downs but the best way to describe Skov-Olsen's form would be bipolar; "manic highs" where he will absolutely tear up opposition defenses and then "depressive lows" where he will end up with a 6.3-6.5 average rating for 5-6 matches straight. If he could maintain his good form for longer periods there is no doubt in my mind the big clubs would be lining up for his signature. Nevertheless, his contribution was hugely important in our top 6 finish and he will likely continue to be my first-choice on the right wing for several more years.
Other News
FINALLY
I've finally done it. After 7 long, boring, and relatively fruitless years as U.S.A. manager, Gregg Berhalter resigned and I was then appointed as U.S.A. manager in the beginning of the season ahead of the 2026 World Cup which will be hosted in, you guessed it, the United States of America. It's a long shot, and I mean a VERY long shot, but we'll give it our best shot and if we win the World Cup I honestly might call it a day in this save as there won't be much else to achieve. This isn't a realistic goal, however, and I'll likely be looking to win in 2030 or even 2034 (and even that could be a stretch). Still, I'm excited to see how far I can take them and after just one season I've managed to improve our international ranking from 23rd to 19th.
2026 World Cup Preview
As I said before, we are host nations along with Canada for the 2026 World Cup and this gives us a distinct advantage over the other nations, though I still don't think it'll be enough of an advantage for us to actually win the tournament, but anything can happen!
I selected a relatively young squad for the World Cup, and made a huge gaffe in leaving out Timothy Weah from the squad, though I don't know how because I distinctly remember clicking "Call Up to USA Squad" along with DeAndre Yedlin who was also left out of the squad. I also remember thinking the squad was full because it wouldn't let me add another player, but then I was able to add someone else a day later so perhaps the game bugged and removed them from the squad without me noticing. I'm really not sure what happened to be honest, but I couldn't go back to a previous save as I leave auto-saves off and I would've had to re-play a couple games which I don't do. Nevertheless, I'm happy with my squad and I'm confident of a respectable run after beating Germany 3-0 and tying Sweden away 1-1 in a match we dominated. I'll post a review of the World Cup once it's done and then will continue only posting season reviews from now on until the next major international cup!
HeadCoachFM
Results
We went into the World Cup with cautious optimism after beating Germany 3-0 in a friendly, but we went on to have a rather mediocre campaign. We started off strongly with a 4-0 win against Turkey, before being upset by Ivory Coast which served as a reality check for us. After being drawn to face Spain in the 2nd Round I thought all was lost but due to an early sending off of one of Spain's players, we managed to secure a 2-0 win to move onto the 3rd Round. We were then eliminated by Italy who went through all the way to the Semi Final where they were eliminated by subsequent runners-up, Portugal.
Winner
France narrowly defeated Portugal in extra time in the Final, cementing their status as #1 in the world.
National Rankings
We're now ranked 18th in the National Rankings, having moved up a total of 6 places since I took over about a year and a half ago. This is good progress but there's a long road ahead.
Standout Performers
Christian Pulisic
Pulisic was by far the best player on my team, scoring 4 goals in 4 appearances in the World Cup which made him joint-top-scorer for the whole competition. I attempted once again to sign Pulisic to add some depth to my attack but he requested £190,000 per week in wages which is £80,000 more than my current highest-paid player, Andreas Skov-Olsen (and even that is higher than I would've liked to spend). It seems less and less likely Pulisic will ever be a Nine Elms player as each summer comes and goes, but I'll keep trying.
Morgan Nicholls
In an attempt to bring through the next generation of American National Team players, I've shaken up the traditional squad quite dramatically, replacing veteran right back Deandre Yedlin (124 caps!) with PSV player Morgan Nicholls. This turned out to be a great decision, as Nicholls was my second best player throughout the World Cup, putting in consistent and dominant performances in all but the last match of the competition. He's definitely on my shortlist for Nine Elms!
HeadCoachFM
Season Preview
Despite finishing 6th the previous season, the press gave us title odds of 400-1 which placed us in 16th in the Season Preview. This was still an improvement from last year, though, as our title odds were previously 650-1.
Table
The introduction of the Europa League to our fixture list added a significant challenge later in the season, as we went on respectable cup runs in the FA Cup, League Cup, and Europa League which caused the squad to burn out in the last 3 months of the season. As a result we finished 10th in the league and will miss out on continental football next season.
Europa League
In our debut season in continental football we actually made it all the way to the Europa League Final against Liverpool, where we were then battered 4-0. The entire run to the final added 15 matches to our schedule, and we managed to go further in both the League Cup and the FA Cup than we did during the previous season when we finished 6th in the league. As a result of all 3 cup runs, we played a total of 21 more matches this season than we did last season. This fixture congestion and our lack of depth (partly my fault for not strengthening, but also injuries) caused our late season form to trail off and we ended up with 13 less points than we had last season. Hopefully with the right additions we can push the top 6 again this season, and with the lack of Europa League fixture congestion I think we'll have a good chance.
Transfers
This was actually the first season in which I didn't make any summer signings, which I quickly regretted. My starting right winger suffered damaged cruciate ligaments which sidelined him for most of the season and further injuries highlighted our weaknesses in depth. As a result I spent £70m on 2 first team players and 7 academy players, with further business planned for the summer window. To balance the books slightly, several players departed for a total of £13.5m.
Out
Timothy Weah
Weah's ACL injury in the 2025/26 season disrupted his form and development severely, so I decided to sell him in the January window when interest from several Mexican sides was shown. He then joined Pachuca for £10.5m after 5 and a half mixed seasons at Nine Elms, during which he made 113 league appearances, scoring 27 goals. Weah started pretty well for Pachuca, scoring 5 goals and getting 2 assists in 10 appearances before getting injured, hopefully he can kick on and cement his place in the U.S.A. squad!
Cameron Carter-Vickers
After a mixed spell with us since signing 3 years ago, I decided to recoup some of the £7m we spent on him rather than letting him go on a free. As such, I sold him to Norwich for £2.7m where he played a bigger role but was ultimately relegated to the Championship.
In
Francisco Jose Ruiz
Following the departure of Timothy Weah, I signed 22-year-old right-footed left winger Francisco Jose Ruiz from Hertha Berlin for £66m as part of my plan to take this club to the next level. Ruiz is operating at a "Leading Premier League level" and could still improve, which is exactly the type of player I need to be looking for in the transfer market from now on. Ruiz did okay in his first 6 months, making 22(1) appearances in all competitions, scoring 6 goals and getting 2 assists with an average rating of 6.97. These certainly aren't world-class stats, but we were in the midst of some of the worst form in the club's history as well as being ravaged by injuries so I believe with the right support next season Ruiz will prove his worth.
Jonathan Amon
Due to lack of depth on the wings, our relatively small budget, and Amon's versatility, I signed Jonathan Amon for £3.5m on the last day of the January window and he subsequently made 6(7) appearances in all competitions, scoring 3 goals and grabbing an assist. I will likely sell him at the end of the season to bring in younger options for depth.
Standout Performers
Sergio Beccacece
Beccacece has finally demonstrated the potential he had shown when we bought him and was by far our best player this season. He scored 14 goals and racked up 6 assists in 48(4) appearances in all competitions, maintaining a 7.21 average rating amongst a team who largely struggled with consistency. No doubt there will be interest in the summer window but hopefully we can hang on to him.
Other News
Luke Clark is Already a Legend
At just 23 years old, Luke Clark has already won League One Player of the Year, the League One Golden Boot, the Championship Young Player of the Year, USA Young Player of the Year (3 times), USA Player of the Year (2 times), North American Player of the Year, and the English Premier League Players' Young Player of the Year. He's also our highest appearance maker of all time, with 190 league appearances and an impressive 85 league goals to show for it. He's also racked up 44 international caps already, with 11 goals. Though he wasn't quite as prolific this last season, Clark has proven to be a true American legend at the young age of 23 and hopefully his career will become even more decorated in the future.
HeadCoachFM
Results
The Gold Cup started off well, as expected, and we breezed through the group stage to face our neighbors, Canada, in the quarter final. This seemed like a pretty straight forward competition, and I knew the final winner would be either us or Mexico which didn't really matter as long as we got far enough to face them. Amazingly, 57th-ranked Canada sent us tumbling out of the quarter final in extra time courtesy of a 102' finish from Canadian Premier League striker Thomas Hainault.
The Result
What seemed like a routine competition with little importance essentially became the demise of this great save. I continued playing for a while after being sacked by the USA national team but realized that any progress I could make using solely Nine Elms United F.C. to improve American soccer would be slight without my influence over the national team. As a result I've decided this is the natural end of this story, and I've failed in my mission to turn the United States into an international powerhouse. Under my leadership the U.S. rose from 23rd to 17th in the national rankings, and several Nine Elms legends helped greatly with that achievement, but sadly it was cut short by a robust Canada team. Perhaps in the future I'll try again with different circumstances, we'll see! In the meantime check out my Failed Wonderkids FC and Adventures of Cristionel Messnaldo stories as I'll be working to finish those up before the release of FM 20!
bigmattb28
Looch
HeadCoachFM
Some of you may remember this FM 2019 Story, where I created an American "soccer team" and placed them in the English football pyramid to improve the level of U.S. "soccer" by bringing through mostly American talent. I decided to revive the old club in FM 2020 with the editor, with a few small tweaks! I also created a new logo for the team, and put them in the Sky Bet League One, replacing Bury rather than the competing in the Vanarama National League. If you're interested in giving the save a go feel free to download the custom database below! If you're interested in trying this challenge with a different nationality club in a different foreign country, go ahead and watch my challenge guide on how this can be achieved!
Nine Elms United F.C.: http://www.mediafire.com/file/97i2invi0i7my5t/Nine_Elms_United.fmf/file
Nine Elms Logo: http://www.mediafire.com/view/rjbniysj7zzneaa/oj6bpX9%20(1)%20(3).png
Challenge Guide: https://youtu.be/Nk2eysDyzSw