2023/24 Season - July & August

Here we go, the season has begun and I've got to the end of August, before I go through the results let's take a look at the new signings.

Because of our restricted wage budget I've had to keep costs down by cheap loans and freebies, there were a few more than I planned but all brought in for a reason.

Kelvin Ehibhatiomhan - Striker - Season loan from Reading

Say this name when you're drunk!!! A decent looking, young forward who started the season well but then got injured for 6-8 weeks. We were very short of decent strikers so he was massively needed, a shame he got injured so quickly

Phil Bardsley - Right Back - Free Transfer

Experience which is really needed in this young squad, at 38 though Phil still looks top quality.

Tyler Bindon - Central Defender - Season loan from Reading

We are hugely short in defence so Bindon was needed, a really decent, tall, strong centre back.

Ryan Astley - Central Defender - Season loan from Everton

A second CB to come in, his attributes are really well-rounded and he will prove to be a quality player at this level

Aiden Denholm - Central Midfield - Season loan from Hearts

What I found in the opening games was we really didn't have a decent, attacking-minded midfielder, one who can get forward and be a threat in the box, Denholm looks like he can fill that gap.

Will Lankshear - Striker - Season loan from Spurs

After losing my other loanee Striker for a few months I needed another lad to come in as we are very short up top. Lankshear offers good pace and decent finishing, he should be really good

So six new signings, no money spent and wages kept down to a minimum, the squad looks much better now, even if it still looks very young.

Now to the results and the season starts the with Premier Sports Cup (League Cup), it opens with a group stage and it went really well.

Four games, three wins and our only defeat was on penalties in the final game. Our best result was the first game where we beat Premiership side St Mirren. A really good start.

After the group stage of the League Cup the Championship season began, it didn't start well with a poor defeat to Inverness but we recovered to beat Arbroath 3-0, our third league game was another defeat away to Partick but they are a much better team than us and we did play pretty well. 

Sandwiched in between those final two league games was the Second round of the League Cup where we went to Premiership side Livingston and came away with a 2-1 win!

So while the league season hasn't started amazingly our run in the League Cup has been brilliant, in the Quarters we face Celtic at home!

Only three points so far but we have had a couple of tough away games, defensively we seem to struggle and we have also been hampered with fitness issues, hopefully as the season continues, the players will begin to get their sharpness up.

Finally, a quick look at the tactics I'm trying to employ. I have two tactics, both 41221 with different styles of play dependant on who we're facing.

If I want to dominate the ball and push higher up forcing mistakes then I will play with the gegenpress tactic. This worked really well in the League Cup but when we faced away games in the League it seemed to get ripped apart, hence why I had a second tactic, one which sat a bit deeper and play more counter-attacking.

For the gegenpress tactic though the roles are pretty basic with a couple of changes to base roles. 

Below is the second tactic, again 41221 with some tweaks to roles. I hope the CM(a) will get forward to join in the attacks, it worked well in the win away to Livingston where Denholm scored the winner from that CM(a) position. I've also tried a different style back four with the LB more attacking, the RB is playing at the new IFB role who, when the LB attacks, should tuck in and create a back three, let's hope it works!

I was discussing this with someone last night. Apparently this season they are back at Hampden whilst Lower Hampden gets refurbished, they should be going back there from the 24/25 season but as far as I can see it's not planned in the game

Amazing season mate, well done!  You play quicker than me!

2023/24 Season Preview

This update will look specifically at Queen's Park. Internationally I will only really update when qualifying for a competition ends or when a major tournament comes about.

THE CLUB

Formed in 1867, the Glasgow-based club are the oldest football club in Scotland, they currently play at Hampden Park, the home of the National side, the stadium holds just over 51k, a nice capacity to aim at but for now we will be lucky to get 4-5k each game (and even that's probably optimistic!)

The club have only really risen away from the bottom tier of the SPFL in the past couple of season, winning successive promotions in 2020-21 and 2021-22 and in the 2022-23 season narrowly missed out on promotion to the Premiership, losing in the playoffs. Their rise up the leagues has coincided with the decision to become professional in 2019, removing the amateur status the club has held for 152 years.

So a club on the up with a huge ground, a great base and an exciting future.

FACILITIES

Overall it looks pretty good, compared to the rest of the Scottish Championship our training and youth facilities are near the top end, we also have half-decent junior coaching and youth recruitment but to bring through those top quality kids through the academy this needs improving.

I do like to get those intake stars coming into the first-team, this will also hopefully help the national side as we progress through the save, so getting these increased is key moving forward.

THE FINANCES

It actually looks better than I expected but, as you will see, it maybe isn't as good as you'd think.

£3m in the bank, fantastic, but……

Projections shows big losses over the coming seasons, promotion to the Premiership is key but even then money won't come easy, the best way to make money is to qualify for Europe, that is a must. It will be tough but shouldn't take more than 4 or 5 seasons tops.

It's also not brilliant budget wise with only £80k to spend in transfer money and literally no spare wage budget left in what we have.

So promotion is huge to get the finances moving the right way and this season we have to be really savvy in how we build the squad in readiness for a promotion challenge.

THE PLAYERS

After an initial look it has become evidently clear we have virtually no defenders, when I looked we had one right back and two centre backs. I've had to bring in some kids from the youth teams to just bolster the defensive ranks. So that is the number one aim before the season starts, we need defenders.

Other than that we have strength in depth in all areas, plenty of midfielders and way too many wingers, up front we are a little light in decent natural strikers but the kids may get their chance!

KEY MEN

The highest rated player at the club is wide-man Stuart McKinstry, at only 20-years old he could be a huge players moving forward.

Left back Tommy Robson also looks like a really good player for this level, a decent attacking full back.

I am really excited by this lad, goalkeeper Callan McKenna is a 16-year old who has already been capped at U17 and U18 level for Scotland, could he be a potential star for the national side in the years to come?

One thing that is evident is how young our squad is, we have 8 players over 22-years old and only 1 player over 30. In the squad we have 13 teenagers! It's time for them to become men and take this club to the Premiership!!!!

SEASON PREVIEW AND EXPECTATIONS

So how are we expected to do? Well the media have us as playoff challengers but more than likely to end mid-table.

The board also agree as they expect us to end mid-table and to do our best in the cup competitions

The interesting thing is, the board expect us to win promotion next season! High expectations!!!

My next update will be at the end of August when the transfer window slams shut, let's hope we can bring in some better defenders and start the season well!

Welcome to my FM24 where, as the title suggests, I will trying to make Scotland the best nation in the World both internationally and domestically.

In this save there are four main aims:

INTERNATIONAL

Win the World Cup

Top the FIFA World Rankings

DOMESTIC

Win the Champions League

Take Scotland to the top of the UEFA Nation co-efficient

To do this I will be starting as manager of the Scotland National team and alongside that I will be taking charge of Queen's Park, who currently reside in the Championship.

Why Queen's Park? Well they are a Glasgow-based team and it would be a nice extra challenge to topple the big two (Celtic and Rangers) who are both Glasgow-based as well

So wish me luck!

Updates will be monthly or bi-monthly depending on how much stuff has happened, there will also be a pre-season preview and a post season review.