Deleted User #151676 - Comments

Hello All, long time no see! I've not had much time to play FM in recent times due to working six days and my young family constraining my ability to relax and get into a save, however I think I have found a challenge that could last a long time even if progress might be a little slow at times.

I've recently started a new job setting-up and running a shop in Loughborough, despite only being about ten miles from where I live currently I just never got round to visiting Loughborough more than a couple of times since moving to Leicestershire almost ten years ago now. However since starting work here I have to say I really like the town and am already considering moving if the shop does well. As those of you who have known me on this board for a long time will know, I love my non-league football, so I will need a new team;



There are two main teams playing in the town, Loughborough Dynamo are in step step four of the non-league pyramid and the University side are in step five, so I decided to go with the Students to see how far I can take them. Lets be clear from the start, I don't have any far fetched ambitions of winning the Champions League with them, due to the nature of a Uni side they will forever remain amateur so I will never be able to spend money on a player, either through transfer fees or wages and will be totally reliant on finding free agents and developing my regens. It also means that I will never receive a penny in player sales as no player will ever have a written contract that can be brought out so to make money I shall rely mostly on ticket sales.

Loughborough uni is a renowned for it's sports facilities with many Olympic athletes training there, FM reflects this with our impressive training facilities;

My aim will be to use any money I do make to improve the youth coaching and facilities so we can train high quality youngsters.


In order to achieve realism I will not be signing anybody over the age of 23. My main objective is to overtake our rivals Loughborough Dynamo who are one level above us and see what happens from there. Despite our amateur status the media have actually made us favourates to win the Midland Football League this season;

That is assuming that our current squad stays together, which it is highly unlikely to;

I can't get upset when my best players leave for nothing as the entire purpose of a university is to prepare players for bigger and better things, I have to establish the mindset of being a youth development coach and focus on preparing replacements in the reserves who are ready to fill the gaps left.

Fuck Ramos. Twat.

Game over?

Feel for Buffon.

Somebody is going to get sent off before this ones over.

Have to say it has been a great game so far.

What a goal.

Congratulations Huddersfield. I imagine Terriersmad will have a sore head tomorrow.

Come on Bristol, send the inbreeds down.

Congratulations Newcastle.

I have a feeling we will settle for a draw or deliberately roll over and die against Blackburn on Saturday so that Birmingham drop into the relegation zone. (Assuming that they lose to Huddersfield as expected)

Gabby Agbonlahor popping up with his obligatory bi-annual goal at a most opportune moment.

October 2016

The October international break made this month a fairly short one which included just four fixtures;

A good hard fought victory against a competitive Villarreal side who gave us a tough game, this exactly the sort of game which we need to be able to grind out wins in if we are to achieve my ambition of a place in the Europa League next season so I'm very pleased we were able to do so.

Malaga have started the season slowly and find themselves struggling in the bottom three, I'm certain they won't be there come May, but given their situation this really was a game we ought to be taking maximum points from, and for 88 minutes it very much looked as if we would do so, however a last gasp strike from Camacho robbed us of two points, much to my frustration.

My first meeting with Los Blancos was a competitive one, as you might expect the visitors enjoyed most of the possession and could have won comfortably had they displayed the same level of clinical finishing that Barca had when we met them on the opening day, however thanks to some quality defending, goalkeeping and just a hint of fortune we stayed in the game and ended up giving Zinedine Zidane's side a battle, Felipe Caicedo had a glorious chance to equalise in the second half as Pepe sold Keylor Navas short with a back pass, allowing Caicedo to pick up the ball clean through on goal, unfortunately the Ecuadorian international only managed to shoot straight at Navas. In the end Real deserved the win but I did take some positives from the performance.

After Real ended our seven match unbeaten run it was important to pick ourselves up and get back on track as soon as possible, during the first half against Gijon that didn't look like happening at all as Sporting had the better of the play and looked good value for the 1-0 lead at the break. I voiced my displeasure to my troops in no uncertain terms in the dressing room, my rousing words worked a treat as they went out and equalised almost instantly as wingback Aaron Martin reacted to a goalmouth scramble following a corner to smash home his first goal of the season. Midfielder David Lopez belted home a 25-yard strike to move us ahead before striker Gerard Moreno made sure of the result with a quick fire brace.
I was pleased with this comeback, also the passion and determination my players displayed in kicking Gijon off the park, collecting seven yellow cards in the process but I don't mind them getting stuck in whatsoever.

So we're still seventh and in good form going into November which only holds three La Liga fixtures, we take on relegation embattled Leganes and Eibar either side of a tough game with Bilbao. We also take on Betis in the first leg of our Copa del Rey tie.

September 2016

A much improved month as we picked up ten points to see us climb the league table with some decent football on show;

An ill tempered match in which the referee handed out cards like confetti, I must admit I feared the worse when Moreno missed a first half penalty, however he made up for it by putting us ahead just after the break with a nice turn and finish. Midfielder David Lopez doubled our advantage just before the hour with a stunning 28 yard freekick which wound up winning the goal of the month award.
Deportivo did buck up their ideas and threatened a comeback in the latter stages, Gael Kakuta's 87th minute tap in was my prompt to shut up shop and bring on another holding player to see out the result.

A disappointing game from our perspective, Twice we rallied after falling behind to get quick equalisers, following the second we seemed firmly in control and I fancied us to go on and bag a winner, however it was not to be as Jese escaped his marker to give Las Palmas all three points despite our desperate efforts to get a third equaliser

A close run game in which both teams had good chances to win but weren't able to take one. In the end a draw was probably the right result.

Back to winning way as I noticed my tactical changes over the last couple of months really begin to click into place, Felipe Caicedo bagged his first of the season with a well placed finish to steak his claim for a regular starting place as I rested Gerard Moreno. I was very pleased with the manner of this victory as we held onto possession well and didn't give Celta much in our own half. All in all a professional job.

Another pleasing win, two goals in two minutes set us on our way, it was great to see Jose Antonio Reyes net his first Espanyol goal, the former Arsenal man has been difficult to get right tactically, I tried him as an trequarstisa but he appeared to struggle in that role, he's now in a more static engnache role, making himself available for passes in the attacking half and using his technique to carve out opportunities for the striker and two wingers either side of him.
Betis got a goal back early in the second half and threatened a come back though we still looked very dangerous on the break so it was to nobodies surprise when Moreno finished Betis off late off with his second of the season.

So we're unbeaten in three games going into October, we'll need that momentum as October looks like a tough month as we face Villareal, Malaga, Real Madrid and Gijon. Currently we are just outside the European places in seventh though almost everybody else in the division has a game in hand over us.

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July/August 2016

I am reasonably happy with my squad and am reluctant to make too many changes without having had six months or so to assess everybody properly, so there is only one new addition to the team this summer;

Segio joins us on a season long loan from Valencia, he will serve as a rotation option at the back to give me options tactically.

Pre-season was a mixed bag of results;

A credible win over Emmanuel Adebeyor's Basaksehir side had the gloss taken off by failing to beat Tercera division Europa despite having a near full strength team out. A heavy defeat at the hands of Juventus was always on the cards but I was hoping we could have won the other fixtures to build up for our first fixture, a trip to the Nou Camp on the opening day is probably not the ideal way to make your managerial debut...

We were quite simply outclassed by our arch-rivals, my players didn't even perform too badly and gave Barca a battle in midfield and going forward but just had no answer to the quality of Messi and Suarez's finishing. After going two down I threw caution to the wind and decided to drop our counter attacking approach and go for it, however this backfired and Barca were able to pick us apart with clinical precision on the break.
Losing 5-0 to our biggest rivals was certainly not the best start to my Espanyol tenure, however it did serve as a wake up call as to the scale of the job I'm going to have to do to turn Los blanc-i-blaus into a side that can challenge the likes of Barca and Real for the title.

I was bitterly disappointed not to have picked up the win in this one, Osasuna are a team we really ought to be able to overcome if we are to achieve my ambition of a Europa League spot, we were the better team, enjoying more possession and chances on goal but were unable to finish off the Pamplona club. Still after getting humped 5-0 in the previous fixture, perhaps a draw isn't the end of the world.

The league table doesn't meen anything after two games, but it still doesn't make very good reading for us;

Still, onward and upwards, we had a poor opening day for sure, but there it was just one game, with the players still adapting to my tactics it could take a little while longer before everything clicks into place for us on the pitch but I'm confident that it will all work out eventually.

RIP Chuck Berry.

Thanks Shedender.

Day One

First things first, I had a good look at the playing staff available to me, I have to say I'm impressed by the potential in the squad, this group of players should certainly be challenging for a Europa League spot in my opinion;

I like to have two good quality options for each position which, with the exception of a left footed centre back I do have right from the off so there will be no need for drastic changes to the squad provided I can fend off interest in some of my star players this summer.

Jose Antonio Reyes should be familiar to all the Arsenal fans on here, he's beginning to get on in age now, however he is still very good with the ball at his feet, currently my plan is to utilise him as a trequartista behind the main striker.

Who could well be this man...

Gerard is a quality striker who should bag plenty of goals for me this season, though he has stiff competition for the lone striker role from Ecuador international Felipe Caicedo who has been globe trotting through Russia and the Gulf states since a ill fated spell with Manchester City a decade ago.

There seems to be a lot of interest in my young wing back Ruben Duarte;

Liverpool, FC Porto, Leicester City and Bayer Leverkusen are all reportedly interested in signing the twenty year old so it seems unlikely I'll be able to hold on to him, still hopefully we can fetch a decent price with future fees attached.

To begin with I have the team set up in a 4-2-3-1 with the aforementioned Reyes being the creative mechanism behind the striker and the two wingers making runs either side of him. Javi Fuego and David Lopez will stay deep and protect the defence whilst the wing-backs surge forward to support the attack.

The press forecast us a ninth place finish, I wouldn't be too upset with that for my first season in charge, though I am hoping we can make the top six and thus Europa League qualification.

The old line 'Always the bridesmaid, Never the bride' has been banded about a lot down the years, however it certainly seems apt in the case of poor old RCD Espanyol; They hold the unhappy record of having played the most seasons in the Spanish top flight without actually having taken the crown, the highest finish Los blanc-i-blaus have achieved is third place on three occasions, though you need to go back thirty years for the last time that happened.
Perennially in the shadows of neighbours FC Barcelona, the Catalan derby is the most played match in Spanish football, however Barca have dominated the fixture, winning almost 60% of the clubs 162 meetings. RCD only finishing the season above of their illustrious neighbours three times in seventy years of La Liga football.

Surely after so many years of being second best, Los blanc-i-blaus's time will come, can I be the man to finally help this old traditional club out of Barca's shadows and deliver what many Espanyol supporters went their whole life without seeing, RCD holding the league title?

Obviously that won't be easy and isn't going to happen streight away so I've set myself some short term targets to work towards whilst I build a squad capable of taking on Barca, and indeed Real and Atletico Madrid over the course of a season;

Short/Mid Term Objectives

Beat Barcelona, as often as possible!

Qualify for Europa League

Win The Copa-del-Rey

Long Term

Achieve the club's highest ever finish (above third)

Qualify for Champions League for the first time

Win Espanyol's first league title.

If the Villa win today it will be the first time we have won three matches in a row since 2010.

Fuckin depressing.

Didn't they release a statement backing him just last week?

Hope they get relegated now.

Good luck with Torquay mate. Not a club I know much about to be honest but I had a few good holidays down there when I was young so I'll be rooting for you.

I've decided to re-start this save, the time restraints applied by working a full time job and sharing in the parenting duties of my one year old daughter, have given me very little time to get into a game on FM17 but I now have a bit of time off (From the work part at least!) and I fancied re-starting this challenge.
I had the save backed up so all the information in my opening post is till accurate and there is no need for me to make a new thread.

Day One

• I did an initial assessment of the squad left to me by my predecessor Tony Brookbanks and identified the key positions we need to strengthen this summer as leftback and central midfield as there is very little competition in these areas. A new first choice keeper wouldn't go a miss if my wage budget permits afterwards.
• I terminated the contract of one of my coaches Steve Walker as the board wasn't happy with the amount of coaches at the club currently, besides which he wasn't up to the standard of coaching which I wish to set during my regime.
• I arranged a full pre-season schedule predominately comprising of local derby's, all the games are at home to maximise our revenue generation;

The Leics/Staffs cup is, as the name may suggest, a friendly competition with two clubs from Leicestershire (Us & Loughborugh Dynamo) and two clubs from just across the county boarder in Staffordshire (Burton Albion & Tamworth) We drew Loughborough in the semi final and I'm hoping for to advance to face Burton in the final as a tie with the League One side would be a real money spinner for us.
• Initially I have set up the team tactics defensively, we are predicted to come last for good reason and to have any hope of survival we must keep things tight, I am starting off with a cautious 4-5-1 with two wingers in advanced positions so we can counter quickly. All of the defenders have been limited in their duties and the full backs told to stay narrow in order to keep things compact and difficult to break down. As the season progresses I will make subtle changes to individual instructions to aid with creativity but for now let's focus on not getting beaten.

A happy and prosperous new year to you all.

Villa have rejected a £25M bid from a Chinese side for Jordan Amarvi, Absolutely crazy money, he's a decent player but for that money I'd piggyback him to China.

Merry Christmas ya'll.

Santa visited me a bit early this year;

Sounds amazing for the price. Just ordered some hooks to mount it and my old Ibanez artcore on the wall.

Welcome one and all to what will hopefully be a long a prosperous career as I attempt to tackle Dafuge's ever popular challenge. In a nutshell the challenge involves holidaying for a season and taking over one of the teams who is promoted into the lowest playable division of your chosen country, I chose England and was pleasantly surprised when Coalville Town were one of my options, I work in Coalville in Leicestershire so it was a no brainier for me.

Town are riding the wave of back-to-back promotions having being in the Northern first division less than two years ago so the odds are really stacked against us retaining our place in the Conference North;


The intial squad I have inherited from former boss Tommy Brookbanks is still by en-large semi-pro, meaning their contracts are not protected, I have a wage budget of £3.5k so I have money to sign a few down but not everyone so I'll have to think carefully about who should be offered deals and who I'm prepared to risk losing.


The Ravens play in the 2000 capacity Owen Street Sports Ground (Not the catchiest name in the world I know) both their training and youth facilities are in dire need of upgrades as they are both poor, It will be one of my foremost priorities to get these improved as they are vital if the club is to grow, establish itself at this level and eventually advance beyond to begin fulfilling my dream of a place in the football league.

We picked up a good win yesterday, unbeaten in seven now under Steve Bruce and the only unbeaten team a home in the Championship. The atmosphere seems to be improving from pure poison to cautiously optimistic now.

Won tickets to go and see Alterbridge in Birmingham tonight on Planet Rock radio.

My grandad passed away last night. It's news I had been expecting for a while now but it's still horrible when it actually happens. The strange thing was that because I don't drive I had to get two buses and a train from my house in Leicestershire over to his hospital in Birmingham, each one was waiting at the stop for me and left as soon as I was on board and he passed literally a minute or two after I got there surrounded by the whole family.

We still don't know for sure what was cause of death, he was initially been treated for an ear infection but lost over four stone in two months so we suspect he might have had some form of diagnosed cancer as few other things can cause that big of a weight loss so quickly.

We have won two games in a row for nearly eighteen months.
If we make it three we should rename one of the stands in Steve Bruce's honour.