[FM24] Take me home, United Road

One last Football Manager 2024 save, perhaps.

I'm toying with the idea of purchasing Football Manager 26. Prior to taking that plunge, I thought I'd do one final save on FM24 just to make sure I do indeed have the bug to play FM again; I've not touched the game since March 2024.

No better club to start with than Manchester United, the club I have always and will always support.

I only just realised that I've never documented a United save on this website before; I haven't done a United save, at all, for a while either. For those wondering, the title is a nod to the chant that United fans sing. I've downloaded the latest squads from this fine site but without the attribute update, I have upgraded to premium (it was long overdue that I gave something back to a website that I've used as much as I have down the years) but only after starting the save so 'twas too late. The save begins in July 2023, so technically my manager is replacing Erik ten Hag and Ruben Amorim. No editor in-use, transfers on but incomings unlikely.

Meet: Juan Hernández. A Spaniard born in the exclave of Melilla, he is tasked with getting United back to the top of the world game. He is a novice manager, though managed to wow INEOS and Jim Ratcliffe across interviews with his Continental Pro Licence and history as an international footballer.

The usual disclaimer of: don't expect any success with this save, I'm not that good at the game! Amorim 2.0 is more likely than Ferguson-esque.😆

I'll probably do monthly updates, and I'll see how far I get in the save before FM26 releases/I get bored/my PC fails/etc.

Thanks for reading!

Juan Hernández starts his reign as Manchester United manager in July 2023. Here's how the Spanish manager got on in pre-season.

After a training game win over the second xi and a local victory at Blackburn Rovers, Hernández's boys lost in Austria to LASK; who were very fortunate to gain a win, as Utd were the better side. That was followed by a tour to North America, as Los Angeles (United States) and Tigres (Mexico) were visited. Steve Cherundolo's LAFC ran out winners on penalties, though UANL - who had veteran André-Pierre Gignac benched - were defeated 3-2 in San Nicolás de los Garza. Benjamin Šeško hit a hat-trick in that match, having also notched in LA.

Back in Europe, at Lotto Park it was Anderlecht who condemned United to a second pre-season loss on spot-kicks. In the pre-season finale at Old Trafford, Club Brugge were put to the sword as The Red Devils ran riot - winning 6-1, having been 4-0 up after 24 minutes, as Šeško made it 6 goals from 7 friendlies.

That is what awaits United to start the Premier League. Tottenham Hotspur at home, Chelsea away. Ouch! Aston Villa (H), Brentford (A) and AFC Bournemouth (H) at least make for a friendlier, if on paper only, set of follow-up fixtures. A second round tie in the Carabao Cup, given the absence of European footy, also awaits at the end of August (shudders in Grimsby). As for transfer updates, there's two pieces to share: Diego León loaned to Sheffield United. Bruno Fernandes convinced to stay after Ittihad offer.

Will Juan Hernández get a dream start to the campaign, or will it be more of the same for the United faithful. Time will tell…

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The competitive season gets underway. Could Juan Hernández get off to a winning beginning? Let's see…

In short, not quite. The opposite, in fact. Four games, four winless. It hasn't been quite as bad as the results suggest, but if you aren't winning then you are certainly in for trouble. The Premier League campaign got underway with Tottenham Hotspur at home, and it was Thomas Frank's side that ran out 3-2 winners in Manchester. Kobbie Mainoo had given The Red Devils a 33rd-minute lead, though a subsequent brace from Randal Kolo Muani gave Spurs a half-time advantage. Amad Diallo would equalise early in the second half, but Kolo Muani converted a late penalty to complete his hat-trick.

Chelsea were up next at Stamford Bridge, in a match that was drawn 1-1; Mason Mount netted against his former club, who had gone ahead thanks to Wesley Fofana. Then came Aston Villa at Old Trafford, with Unai Emery's team visiting as the early leaders following victories over Sunderland (3-0) and Liverpool (2-0). Matheus Cunha scored his first goal for the club to put United in front after 37 minutes, but the table toppers would hit back hard with two goals in the final eighteen minutes via Emiliano Buendía and Ollie Watkins. The month ended with Carabao Cup elimination, as League One outfit Bolton Wanderers won on penalties (shock) at the Toughsheet Community Stadium (toughsheet indeed).

The board and supporters remain on-side, defining themselves as ‘pleased’, but Juan Hernández needs to get that first three points as soon as possible if he wants to stick around for much longer.

There was some transfer dealings that occurred prior to the window slamming shut on 1 September 2023, as Juan Hernández snapped up some (likely) squad depth on loan; both arrived on deadline day, but were totally not panic buys or anything. Levi Colwill comes in from Chelsea, while Johan Bakayoko pens terms from RB Leipzig.

There was also a late move for Real Madrid star Endrick, but the Brazilian international surprisingly rejected United for a move to… the Championship with Leicester City (yes, really). His reasoning? A “similar style of football” to his parent club. Yikes! Someone get that man a CT scan. Colwill, on the contrary, actually rejected Bayern Munich, AC Milan and, erm, Leicester City. He might need medical attention too, in fairness.

Well, below you can see what comes next for Juan Hernández and Manchester United. September sees meetings with Brentford (A), AFC Bournemouth (H) and Wolverhampton Wanderers (A). A23/M23 rivals Brighton & Hove Albion (H) and Crystal Palace (A) are on the way soon after. Improvement needed!

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It's the end of September and Juan Hernández remains in charge. But did form improve?

Just the three matches due to the lack of Europe and the premature cup exit, but it was technically an improvement in terms of results. Three games without defeat… that's something, I guess. September began with an away draw at the Gtech Community Stadium against Brentford, it ended 0-0 but was very eventful - The Bees had two goals disallowed (incl. in stoppage time) and missed a penalty through Marcus Ingvartsen on 85 minutes, while United had Lisandro Martínez sent off after 61mins. After that, Hernández's team got their first win of the season as AFC Bournemouth left Old Trafford with a 4-1 loss; Benjamin Šeško, Mason Mount, Matthijs de Ligt and Manuel Ugarte scored.

To conclude the month, Man Utd suffered a disappointing 1-1 draw at Wolverhampton Wanderers. Mason Mount put the club ahead, but Hwang Hee-chan levelled the scoreline on 88 minutes. This all means The Red Devils sit 14th after 6 games (some teams have played 7 times)… who says FM is unrealistic! They are one point above the drop zone and already five points off the European places. Not good!

October sees four Premier League fixtures: Brighton & Hove Albion and Burnley at home, Crystal Palace and West Ham United on the road.

Thanks for reading!

Juan Hernández has not had the best start to life at Manchester United. With the team ending September in 14th, The Red Devils headed into October searching for a turnaround in fortune. Would it happen?

Nope! October did actually start in the correct fashion, as Benjamin Šeško struck 30 minutes into an eventual 1-0 triumph at Old Trafford against Brighton & Hove Albion; which made it back-to-back home wins for the first time this season. Unfortunately, the hard work was undone next time out as Crystal Palace beat United 2-1 at Selhurst Park - Bryan Mbeumo gave his side a 12th-minute lead, though Eddie Nketiah equalised on 24 minutes and Jean-Philippe Mateta got the winner on 90+4 minutes. The international break followed, with The Red Devils returning with a lousy goalless home draw with Burnley; who had former red Hannibal sent off after an hour.

The last match of October saw, arguably, the campaign's worst performance: vs. West Ham United at London Stadium. Hernández and his team were never in this match-up as they failed to get a shot on target (from only two shots, total), with The Hammers running out deserved 2-0 victors. Casemiro scored an own-goal on 20mins, prior to making things worse by getting sent off (second yellow) 22 minutes later. Moments after the red card, Niclas Füllkrug made it two-nil from the penalty spot. WHU also had two goals disallowed. It was ugly from the away side's perspective. Winter is coming and Man Utd have dropped further to 16th.

The board and supporters aren't as happy either, though do remain at ‘satisfied’. The squad dynamics have declined most, with club atmosphere at ‘very poor’ following an uncomfortable team meeting post-West Ham. Change is needed sharp, otherwise the Spaniard will not make Xmas. November sees Premier League home games with rivals Leeds United and Liverpool, with an away trip to Sunderland sandwiched between. The vultures are circling…

Thanks for reading!

November arrives and Juan Hernández is on the brink, with a massive improvement needed for the side that sat 16th coming into the winter months. Here is how the year's eleventh month went down.

A false dawn occurred. Man Utd started November with a dominant 3-0 beating of rivals Leeds United, as Benjamin Šeško joined Mason Mount and Bruno Fernandes on the scoresheet at Old Trafford. Unfortunately, a week later Sunderland condemned The Red Devils to a battering at the Stadium of Light. Remember that West Ham United result that I mentioned during last month? Well, this was worse than that! 2-0 flattered United, safe to say. After that fixture, the board understandably called a meeting with Hernández. He managed to convince INEOS & Co. to give him one more month to solve things.

The first game of the board's assessment period saw the big rivalry game with Liverpool at home, the visitors were top of the table so you couldn't have asked for a tougher next match. The Scousers would return home delighted with a one-goal victory, which was entirely merited - United did not turn up once again, you could argue the scoreline was better than it should've been. This all means that Hernández's boys sit 14th, so technically have 'improved' by two places but are level on points with the relegation zone; seven points separate them and the European spots, for what it's worth.

To no surprise, the board, supporter and player atmosphere is extremely bleak right now.

I did say Amorim 2.0 was more likely to happen…

So, Juan Hernández has only a couple of matches to save his job. Here's how a bumper December looks, with back-to-back away trips on the way versus Nottingham Forest and Arsenal. It the manager is still in a job after that, Fulham (H), Newcastle United (A) and Everton (H) are on the horizon after.

Thanks for reading!

December was to be a decisive month in charge of Manchester United for Juan Hernández. With the board expecting improvement within weeks, The Red Devils had to hit the festive period running. Did they?

That speaks for itself. The inevitable has happened and Man United sack Mr. Hernández. Like both of the previous two months, United did actually start with a victory - this time away to Nottingham Forest, who were beaten 4-2 after Benjamin Šeško grabbed a brace of penalties to go alongside a Willy Boly own-goal and a first Utd goal for loanee Johan Bakayoko. As also seemed the case across October and November, the win was immediately followed by a sh!tshow. On this occasion, Europe-chasing Arsenal thrashed their Manchester rivals 5-0 at the Emirates Stadium. Less said about that one, the better.

The Spaniard's final match in charge was a 1-1 home draw with fellow strugglers and Sean Dyche-managed Fulham, as Matheus Cunha and Rodrigo Muniz netted goals. Hernández was preparing for the subsequent trip to face Newcastle United, but two days after that draw with West London club the manager was relieved of his duties. He departs with Manchester United sat 15th.

Well that was short and (not so) sweet! I'll be honest, this is how it tends to go when I do saves with the big clubs - I'm more a low level sorta manager, hence why I always tend to stick with doing no experience/no badges journeyman careers (coming soon in FM26 - the plunge has been taken!). Despite the frustration of this Man Utd run, I have nevertheless (somewhat) enjoyed playing the game.

So what next for the save file? Usually I'd call it quits, but to avoid this career post having barely anything in it I'm going to add a new manager to take charge of Man United - making it a relegation saver of sorts save. Hopefully it goes better the second time around, but if it doesn't then I'll repeat the process until I get bored; I do have an idea for a different short-term FM24 save, so we'll see. Anyway, I'll introduce the new guy in my next post.

Thanks for reading!

After the demise of Juan Hernández, there's a new man in town who attempts to salvage the 2023/24 season for Manchester United. To partially quote Nikki Grahame on the day that Big Brother UK starts a new series, who is [s]he?

Meet: Robert DuPont! A 55-year old Frenchman enters Old Trafford. INEOS have received criticism for going for another manager with no previous experience of managing, but Mr. DuPont is known worldwide for his international playing career and his previous work as a technical director around top level clubs in Europe. His job is to save the club's season, which may include a relegation battle due to the damage done by predecessor Juan Hernández.

Newcastle United at St James' Park is where DuPont will make his bow as manager. After facing that mid-table outfit, bottom side Everton then visit Old Trafford. After that? Manchester City (A), Chelsea (H) and Tottenham Hotspur (A). The Frenchman best start fast…

Thanks for reading!

Interesting story, keep it going!

Nice blend of text and graphics here, must admit I prefer my text to be justified rather than centered. Other than this, I'm liking this mate,

Cheers pal, I hopefully will.

I never used to like centered text either, but for some reason ever since I've done posts on here I just prefer it like that. I think I have a bit of OCD with how paragraphs end when it isn't centered. For my next save, I actually will uncenter it to see if I like it.

Robert DuPont is the man chosen to save Manchester United's 2023/24 campaign. Can it be done? Well, a tricky start awaited the Frenchman.

Boy, I suck at this game, huh? Eh, I mean, DuPont is struggling already! As noted, the fixture list has been rough for the new man. Newcastle United away was his bow and, despite a stunning free-kick from captain Bruno Fernandes, it was a defeat on debut. In fairness, the boss' hands were tied as Casemiro (after an earlier injury to Manuel Ugarte, too!) was sent off after just 13 minutes! That's his second red card of the season, which is poor for a man of his supposed experience. ‘Ya can’t argue the game's realistic, mind! Kieran Trippier and Tino Livramento grabbed goals for the mid-table Geordies.

A point was, at least, secured next time out, even if it was still a terrible result and a massive missed opportunity as bottom side Everton visited Old Trafford and left with a goalless draw. After that? Well, it was expected defeats away at title-chasing Manchester City in the derby and at home to Champions League-chasing Chelsea. Jérémy Doku and Savinho scored for the former, Enzo Fernández grabbed a brace for the latter. Well beaten on both occasions, were DuPont's team. He joined with them 15th, they now sit 17th; four points off the bottom. A change of leader may be needed already; with just £1m in the budget, the January window likely won't help much either. There are some AFCON absentees as well...

January 2024 sees four fixtures, three in the Premier League and one in the Emirates FA Cup. Tottenham Hotspur (A, 4th), Aston Villa (A, 1st) and Brentford (H, 9th) make for more probable pain on the way for the Manchester outfit, though one would hope that a home cup tie with Notts County of League Two would at least give some minor solace; though this United team did get knocked out the Carabao Cup away to Bolton Wanderers (League One) back in August, so who knows?

Thanks for reading!

It's a first full month (hopefully) in charge of Manchester United for Robert DuPont: January 2024. Results need to improve drastically.

Wow, that's some great for… oh, two of those are against League Two opposition? Nevermind. To be fair, in this form three wins from five cannot be sniffed at; especially with the context of the Carabao Cup exit to a League One club. Tottenham Hotspur beat United at their stadium on New Year's Day, a pretty nondescript match à la those Manchester City and Chelsea losses in the preceding December. Around a week later, a rare victory was secured over fourth tier Notts County in the Emirates FA Cup; Lisandro Martínez opened the scoring, with Benjamin Šeško, Matheus Cunha and Harry Maguire following suit. That was just United's fifth win (!) of the season.

Table toppers (at the time; one point off as it stands) Aston Villa unsurprisingly walked through The Red Devils, securing a 3-0 success at Villa Park thanks to an Ollie Watkins treble. January 2024's penultimate match saw another 4-0 win over a team from League Two in the FA Cup fourth round, as Fleetwood Town conceded to Šeško (x2), Bryan Mbeumo and Bruno Fernandes. In the month's finale, there was genuine good news as Brentford were beaten 1-0 at Old Trafford; loanee Johan Bakayoko popping up with a goal, his second since arriving from RB Leipzig - with an average rating of 7.01, he has been OK.

As you can see from the arrows, DuPont's team had actually dropped into the relegation zone; only for a week or so, thanks to that Brentford triumph. With only four points between them and basement boys Wolverhampton Wanderers, a relegation battle is all but certain from here on in. Needless to say, I have never relegated United on FM before so this would at least be unique if it were to happen. I wouldn't be surprised if it happened, at all. This team/my gameplaying (delete as appropriate) is truly dreadful.

What's next? A busy February! The FA Cup run might will come to an end with a fifth round Manchester derby, while in the Premier League it's a mixture of opponents as AFC Bournemouth (A, 7th), Wolverhampton Wanderers (H, 20th), Brighton & Hove Albion (A, 14th) and Crystal Palace (H, 9th) await. Oh, and there was one arrival in the transfer window: Antoine Semenyo is loaned from AFC Bournemouth. I also had a loan deal lined up for Scott McTominay to return to his boyhood club, but it fell through because, em, I didn't notice a mandatory future fee had been sneaked in until contract negotiations… Napoli wouldn't restart negotiations (fair). D'oh!

Some funds were raised by the sales of Finley McAllister (£145k, Southampton), Jaydan Kamason (£43k, Preston North End), Tyrell Malacia (£4.5m, Al-Fateh), Tyler Fredricson (£200k, Everton) and Gabriele Biancheri (£145k, Bristol City). Barely a drop in the ocean, evidently.

Thanks for reading!

Great idea for a quick last save! Great job, so easy to read your story. Not sure Man Utd can be saved though 🙂

Appreciate that! It feels like the club is doomed, even in a video game I can't escape this reality of being a United fan. 🙃

This guy…

His third (!) red card this season. It's February. Never been more tempted to click ‘demote’…

February 2024 is here. Time is running out. Can Robert DuPont get a tune out of this plummeting Manchester United team?

An unbeaten Premier League month, you say? Someone call Alexandra Burke, Hallelujah!

Admittedly, there was only one win in there but at least we've actually stopped (for now?) bending over for every team that comes our way - it's a start. Johan Bakayoko picked up his third goal of the season in the month's opener, as The Red Devils drew 1-1 at the Vitality Stadium to AFC Bournemouth; Ryan Christie scored for them. Then came a goalless draw with bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers at Old Trafford, which was a terrible result (reminiscent of Everton on Christmas Eve Eve) - no two ways about it. However, thanks to the previously noted red card stupidity of Casemiro, a point was more OK than it otherwise would have been.

On 17 February, an acceptable if forgettable 0-0 draw at the American Express Stadium versus Brighton & Hove Albion - a further point added to the #SaveManUnitedFromRelegation campaign, danke Mr. Hürzeler. His club's rivals, Crystal Palace, were even more charitable, as they allowed us to take three points from a meet in Manchester - Bruno Fernandes, like against Newcastle United in DuPont's December debut, netted an outstanding free-kick, unlike in the North East it was the matchwinner this time out. Big three points! February ended with the obvious FA Cup fifth round exit to those cheats down the road, Manchester City.

16th is still yuck - but, hey, five whole points clear of relegation. The great escape is on!🤪

March brings with it matches versus Burnley (A, 15th), West Ham United (H, 13th), Leeds United (A, 6th) and Sunderland (H, 17th) - Liverpool (A) await to begin April.

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After a glimmer of hope in February, would March see further improvement for Robert DuPont's Reds?

Draw specialists! We're 2024-25 Juventus, basically. 12 draws for the season now, the most in the bottom thirteen; joint most with seventh place Chelsea, mind. After three ties last month, it was three this month as Burnley, West Ham United and Leeds United drew with The Red Devils. Not good, not terrible… but more bad, given these were relatively favourable fixtures - from the final seven matches, only two opponents sit outside the top eight! Fulham (19th) and Everton (17th), both away, could be key. The lack of goals is the big concern, just two scored. Bruno Fernandes netted at Turf Moor, while Amad got one in a bad home loss to fellow strugglers Sunderland.

Seven games to go. Is a repeat of the 1973-74 season on the way? Let's hope not. (rival fans will disagree!)

Thanks for reading!

The penultimate month of 2023-24. There were four games to play this month. Could Robert DuPont's side boost their survival hopes?

Well, quite the month! Seems extremely positive on first glance, given it's the first time Manchester United have won twice in a row in the Premier League all season, but a deeper look shows a problem: we lost to relegation rivals Fulham! One step forward, two steps back and all that. Amusingly, due to other results around the time of the match MU were actually in the dropzone despite beating Nottingham Forest, which occurred thanks to goals form Benjamin Šeško (he hasn't been great all season, but where would United be without his 8* league goals?!) and Luke Shaw. That had followed an expected loss to title-chasing Liverpool at Anfield.

*It was 6 goals for him until that incredible result at Old Trafford against Champions League hopefuls Arsenal, who The Red Devils remarkably defeated thanks to a brace for the Slovenian international. Sadly, the aforementioned sh!tshow with Fulham (it was Eddie Howe's first game in charge, he was sacked by Newcastle United in November - replaced by Roberto Mancini) followed a week later. That all leaves Man United sat 16th still, but just one single point (plus decent GD, sure) above the bottom three. Wolverhampton Wanderers are already down and out, so it's between Fulham (might be down, as six points off safety with three to play), Sunderland, Brighton & Hove Albion, MUFC, Crystal Palace, Burnley and Everton (latter two probably OK).

The final three fixtures. Newcastle United (H, 8th), Everton (A, 13th) and Manchester City (H, 1st). A Manchester derby effectively relegating United?! Is Denis Law still around?! Although not definite given they just beat Arsenal and their home form has been better recently, DuPont and his team are simply going to need assistance from elsewhere to avoid relegation. It all comes down to this. Godspeed, United!

Thanks for reading!

This is it. The season draws to a close. Robert DuPont replaced Juan Hernández back in December, with his most likely objective being to save Manchester United from relegation. Unfortunately, that objective became the undeniable goal pretty quickly. The Red Devils headed into the final three matches sat in 16th, one point clear of the relegation zone and they had to face two teams from the top eight and one relegation rival. Here's what went down in May 2024.

Game 1 of 3 saw United host their partial Newcastle namesakes and the two clubs played out a 1-1 draw at Old Trafford. Benjamin Šeško remained United's source of goals by popping up with a goal in the 66th minute, which looked to be enough for a valuable three points until Harvey Baines put a dagger into the hearts of all Man United supporters by netting a 92nd minute equaliser. Painful!

Game 2 of 3 was, quite simply, hilarious. Where to start? Goodison Park saw a ridiculous nine-goal thriller. Vitor Bueno opened the scoring for The Toffees in the 8th minute, though the visitors found a leveller on 20 minutes through Amad Diallo. Nine minutes later, Bueno scored a penalty for 2-1. United would hit back again though, as Benjamin Šeško converted a spot-kick of his own on 38 minutes for 2-2. The first half craziness continued though, as Bueno secured his hat-trick on 45+1 mins - again, from twelve yards. Within one minute of the second half, Jack Grealish made it 4-2. Šeško netted for 4-3 on 57 minutes, but Grealish and Iliman Ndiaye would eventually make it 6-3 by FT.

With one game left, here's how it looked. Wolverhampton Wanderers and Fulham down, Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace seemingly safe. It looked to be a direct shoot-out between DuPont's United and former red Mark Robins' Sunderland. Like in 1990, would Robins end up saving a Manchester United manager's job? That is what was most likely needed, given United had league leaders and title-chasing Manchester City on the final day, though Sunderland did have Europe-chasing Chelsea - so there was reason to be hopeful.

So. What happened?

Manchester City easily beat United to win their title. So all eyes were on the Stadium of Light…

Huzzah! Manchester United are safe! Would you believe it? It went exactly how I expected, help was needed from elsewhere and it miraculously arrived - Enzo Maresca… we owe you one, buddy! Sunderland join Fulham and Wolverhampton Wanderers in heading down to the Sky Bet Championship for 2024-25. DuPont is left in the hot seat at Old Trafford, for now anyway. Rumours are swirling he may step down and INEOS may decide to go down the route of a boss with bonafide managerial experience. Watch this space. For now, it's an unmistakable sense of relief for all those connected with The Red Devils.

Thanks for reading!

Ahh yeah the man is back!! Great to see you posting again mate!!!

Just enjoyed going through this, a bit more the fact seeing United struggle, but i like the fact you took on the job for a second time!

Happy to be doing it again! I do have the bug (hoping it stays, surely it will given what I've just put up with in this save! lol) for FM again, but it really is contributing to this site that keeps me interested more - I probably would've dropped the game without looking back a long, long time ago if I wasn't waffling about my saves on here!

As a great leader once said: “It was either madness... or brilliance.”

Nice to hear from you again. Just yesterday, I (belatedly) started reading HockeyBhoy's story in Northern Ireland. Saves there always remind me of when I first joined Susie in 2014 (time flies!) and you & Shedender - I think at least one of you was doing a save or had a connection with Bangor (?, testing my memory) - were so welcoming; without being so, I might not have stuck around so thank you both!

Yeah, i used to be around the careers section daily, sadly things move on but I still pop my head in and out now and again. Only recently got back in to Fm24 so hoping I'll have the bug for 26 and be around a bit more.

Shedender was always the one with Bangor saves, I just really enjoyed publishing other careers and seeing whay others are doing. Good that youre still around

I was secretly rooting for United to get relegated. I’ve grown curious about a promotion battle type of season. It would be great to see what you can do with this team next season with a few new signings..

To be fair, I would've rooted for that too if I wasn't a United fan!

New signings (budget dependent) would be the plan, but I'm in two minds whether to continue or not; I do have a different, more fun short-term save idea I might do instead. Ironically, if United were relegated I almost certainly would've continued with the save as, like you mention, a promotion battle might've been very interesting.

The saviour departs. Manchester United's greatest-ever manager, Robert DuPont, has resigned. Farewell, sweet prince.

I want to move to a different save. I did ‘enjoy’ this, but it was only intended to be a short-term, fun pre-FM26 save.

Given what went down across last season, getting this United team great again would take longer than I'm willing (and probably able - my ability + FM26) to give the save - and it wouldn't be fun, which is what I'd prefer ahead of the next game - where I plan to do a journeyman and, even though those are my absolute favourite sorta saves to do, they can be up/down so I'd rather something fully enjoyable beforehand!

As a final move, I did holiday one season ahead in this United save to June 2025, simply out of curiosity to see what the next manager(s) would be able to do with the club - fully expecting them to fly high, thus exposing by own personal Football Manager inability. Was I correct?

Like. Clockwork.

[hides]

To be fair, INEOS did go and get Unai Emery, who got Aston Villa a spot in the Champions League (4th) last season; 10pts off top spot, having sat there early in the campaign.

Thanks for following along with this save!