TryHardFM - Comments

TRYHARDFM'S ATTEMPT AT THE DAFUGE CHALLENGE

Disclaimer: Some of you might heard of FM_Helmet, that was my previous name before I decided to change it to TryHardFM. I've discontinued my Yellowman Journey as my save files got corrupted hence I'm starting a new save file before doing another journeyman.

Welcome everyone to my first attempt in an FM18 Challenge. My first one will be the Dafuge Challenge whereby I'm going to start with a team that was unplayable that got promoted into the lowest league in the country and take them as high as possible.

With this challenge, I asked some people in the Discord for an opinion from a list of teams on who I should manage and the verdict was Dulwich Hamlet after they got promoted.

History of Dulwich Hamlet

Dulwich, a football club based in Dulwich, in the London Borough of Southwark in England. The club was formed in 1893 by Lorraine 'Pa' Wilson.

Ever since they were founded, they had some successes but it was always in the lower leagues of the English Football Leagues. They've won the English Isthmian League Premier Division 4 times, English Isthmian League First Division 1 time and English Isthmian League First Division South 1 time.


Their current stadium is called the Champion Hill Stadium where they hold their home games and they play in the colors of pink and blue for either their home and away game.







The team consists of an average age of 25.4 years old in the squad.

After studying the stats of the team, I believe that we have some strong talents in the squad that will definitely cause some trouble in the league for us. I've selected the top 3 ability players and their stats justify why they're seen that way in my opinion.

Achievements and Honours

Yeah I went crazy on Discord when that happened

Thanks for your support. I really had a shock that I was able to pull off a promotion from the first season.

Hoping this would continue to my following seasons.

Definitely was a tough season with a lot of times I wanted to just alt + f4 and just restart the game but I stood firm and didn't and it paid off.

End of Season Review

We were knocked out in every cup possible however that doesn't matter.

What matter was that everyone in the squad performed well that we managed to stay as one of the top teams of the league when everyone doubted our strength.

Only 600 out of 26,640 people in Clyde would watch us but it was more than enough support to keep us fighting.



Ryan Nisbet, not only is he our signing of the season but he's the player of the season for the team and the league racking up a total of 35 games in 42 appearances in all competitions.

One of the greatest steal signing I'll probably ever make.



This was the tactic I've stuck with the whole entire season, nothing else.

And with that, that marks the end of my first season as a manager. What comes next? Continuation with Clyde? Or will a more reputable club swoop in for me?

Well there's only one way to find out.

March Report

We had a very... stale month with a draw against Elgin, a win against Stenhousemuir and 3 back to back draws against Annan, Montrose and Peterhead.

April Report

This was definitely the most frustrating month and you'll see why in the end.

We started off the month with a 3-2 loss against Cowdenbeath followed by a draw against Stirling and a back to back win against Edinburgh City and Berwick to end of the season.

Why would it be frustrating? Well let me tell you.



Here we see how we won 4-0 against Berwick... We were rightfully 1st placed but wait, what's that to the right.

Somehow and someway, only God knows how, Montrose managed to score 2 goals during the 93rd and 95th minute hence we have been pushed to 2nd place which means we are going to depend on the playoffs for a promotion when we were supposed to be promoted until the literal last minute. Frustrated.

May Report

Due to the unfortunate circumstances (COUGH COUGH, FM BULLSHIT). The fight is not over yet for us as we are required to play in the playoffs meaning we need to play 4 more games if we reach the end of the tunnel. Our first game would be against Edinburgh and if we are through we will have game against Cowdenbeath or Albion Rovers.

For the first leg against Edinburgh City, we won a comfortable 2 - 0 as they had one person sent off at the 56' minute.

David Gormley and James Thomas stepping up to the place to secure us a lead into the leg.



For the second leg against Edinburgh City, we secured a 2-1 win to give us a 4-1 win in aggregate goals.

Robbie Bruce and David Goodwillie stepping up to put us through the next round.



In the other game, Cowdenbeath beats Albion Rovers in a 5-2 aggregate goal. Which means the finals will consist of Clyde and Cowdenbeath.



For the first leg of the playoff finals, we suffered a surprising defeat against Cowdenbeath.

Kyle Miller, Ryan Connelly and Jordan Garden cancelled out David Goodwillie's effort with a brace.



Thankfully, for the second leg the team looked like world beaters with their performance.

We won the game 5-2 with a goal aggregate of 7-5.

Efforts from Darren Ramsay, James Thomas, Robbie Bruce and a brace by Smart Osadolar gave us the win in the finals playoff that gets us promoted.

Confetti were raining from the sky as the players celebrated their promotion from the Ladbrokes League 2.

I've won my first promotion. I was ecstatic. I was running and hugging and kissing my players as the fans flood the field as they celebrate with the players and myself. It was a great scene.

December Report

Continuing our good run of form, we started the month off with 2 draws against Montrose and Peterhead which was followed by 2 wins against Cowdenbeath and Berwick.

Unfortunately the good run had to end with a lost against Edinburgh City.

Transfer In

With the realization that I only had 3 goalkeepers after my main keeper got injured for a day or two, and seeing my back-up keeper wasn't good enough, I decided to get a more capable goalkeeper who could step in decently.

Not to mention, one of my keepers got stolen under my nose who is moving on the 1st of January.

January Report

We bounced back with a 2-0 win against Annan after our lost against Edinburgh City but drew against Elgin City and lost against Stenhousemuir.

We regained form with a win against Montrose and Peterhead to end off January.

Transfer In

Like I said, my third string keeper was incapable of taking over if ever my second string was injured hence I signed another keeper on a free to make it a plan C if ever it had to go to that extent.



And another just to bump the team depth of Goalkeeper to green

Transfer Out

The keeper who is leaving to Spartans U20s which doesn't make sense as he would gain more game time in Clyde but I couldn't get him to stay without paying him wages hence I just let him go.



Another one who was stolen from me was a winger of mine who didn't really perform much and was earning a chunk of the wages I had. Hence, I just off-loaded him when teams came for him.

February Report

We started February with an odd 2 games losing streak against Edinburgh and Berwick but fortunately bounced back with back to back win against Cowdenbeath and Stirling with a comfortable score line of 2-1 for both games.

September Report

With September rolling in, and adding instructions, there was an obvious shift in the team's performance.

Started off with a 1 - 1 draw against Stirling but it was followed by a 6 - 2 smashing given to Edinburgh City.

Cowdenbeath was comfortable won with a 3-0 scoreline while we succumbed to a lost to Montrose.

October Report

We continued a good form of a 2-1 win against Peterhead and suffered a 0-1 lost to Keith as we again get knocked out in another Cup.

We ended a month with a draw against Elgin City.

November Report

Again, another decent month as we started off with a draw against Stenhousemuir, followed by a win agianst Stirling and a draw again against Annan.

Honestly, very pleased with the progress as we are comfortably meeting a better standard of play compared to how we started from pre-season and the first few months.

Our pre-season went by quite shaky... We started off the pre-season with a friendly win over Tayport which was a good morale boost, lost to a one goal deficit to Brechin and Dundee Utd and ending the pre-season with a draw Arbroath.

To be fair, other than Tayport, the other clubs we managed to arrange a friendly with are clubs who are 1-2 competitions above us so it's not that bad to be honest.





We had a horrible start to the actual season.

We suffered a 4 consecutive losses to clubs who are 1-2 competitions above us.

Although it is expected that we would lose, I would say I'm still definitely disappointed with our performance as the defense was atrocious. They would leave holes behind them that would allow a player to let a through ball past them and would be too far away for them to chase the opposing player down.

We were easily brushed out of the Betfred Cup without any chances of even closely entering the first few rounds.

August Report

We got eliminated again in a different called the IRN-BRU Cup. Brushed aside by a Under 20s squad of Kilmarnock which again, was an upsetting result.

Although, something that lifted my morale which was a convincing 3 - 0 win against Berwick to start of the season of 2017/2018 in Scotland.

It was short-lived though as it was followed by a draw and 2 consecutive losses. Not the worst, but definitely a bad start. We still had the same problems as we had with the bigger teams, whereby opposing teams are still able to do through balls / long balls against us and have an easy run to the goal.

I know I had to change something with our tactic.

Transfers In

After reading through the team report made by my Assistant Manager, I realized that my midfielder had a lack of depth hence I've decided to sign a youngster who had decent stats to play as a rotation midfielder for the team.



In addition, a right-back of mine has left the team for a club that offered him actual wages hence I had to immediately find a replacement who was decent enough to take a position in the team.

Transfers Out

This was the right-back who was stolen from us, by York, a Vanarama North League side who had wages to offer that I couldn't compete with.

Transfer In / Out

James Thomas

Brought this guy in just to basically be a Target Man to be honest. I just wanted him to jump and hit the ball to the Advanced forward to do his own thing.

Calum Brodie

I felt like his skill set was sufficient enough to cover for Currie if he ever gets injured.

Euan Bauld

Brought him in to fill in the gap in the right-back sector of the squad as it was lacking in depth.

Ryan Nisbet

Lastly, Ryan Nisbet. A young and fast striker who I believe could contribute a lot to the team in terms of scoring wise with his pace.

Just wanted to put this out that I'm very sorry that I have not posted ever since I started, I was adjusting to my new working hours as I've just transitioned from my school's internship attachment to my school's final year project. Now that everything has settled down, I am able to post and play again.

First look and impressions

Well, I first came in to my office and handed to me was the list of players of the first team at my disposal.

I've no idea who they were as I've never watched the Ladbrokes League 2, let alone the Scottish Premier League.

I've decided to hire an Assistant Manager named Gareth Ballantine after days of searching for one before I was asked to fly to Clyde so that he could attend to the team earlier on than me and see how the team goes and could give me a rough idea of each player's strengths and weaknesses.

It was evident that my goalkeepers were not as up to shape as I thought other than Currie, that if he ever gets injured, problems will ensue.

In contrast, my strikers had some interesting players like Goodwillie and Gormley who had eye-catching forward abilities at my disposal.

My midfield had a lot of depth but in contrast my defense didn't have much. There were definitely a lot of holes in my team but I'm willing to fill those up.

Reading the news about Clyde and their impression of our club, we were seen as a mid/below average team of the league with our players and I'm hoping that it would change as time progresses.




Judging by the fact that we have a well balanced team of players at each position, except that our wingers are attacking left and right midfielders, I've decided that I'll be going with a 4-2-2-2 formation
(or how it's known as a 4-2-4 in game.)

The Interview

A week later, a phone call came in. It was from a number not local.

I picked it up.

"Hello, is this Helmet?"

"Yes who am I speaking to?" I replied.

"This is Norrie Innes, Chairman of Clyde FC. We are a Scottish Team that currently plays in the Ladbrokes League 2. We are looking for a new manager and was hoping if you're interested in the position."

"Well.. O-Of course I would be. I'd honestly say that this came at a very unexpected time as I didn't expect a call so soon."

"Let's just cut into the chase then Mr. Helmet. I know you aren't experienced, hence the risk of taking you in when we have no money to manoeuvre around, let alone not having that reputation to attract big players so it'll really depend on your relationship with the staff of how you manage to get the correct person to give you the right information."

"Yes I do understand the risk that you're taking and I just want you to give me some time to at least prove myself.

"Is a 1 year contract enough?"

"Yes."

"Welcome on board"

Things happening so quickly

It was so crazy, how everything just went by so quickly.

I was asked to pack up as soon as possible as they season is starting in almost a week and I would need to settle in, find a living place, meet the squad, and prepare them for the match. Do the necessary business I need in the transfer window. So many things happening, so little time. Heart's racing, not sure why but I just feel very nervous as it feels so surreal to just go from playing FM in my bedroom to actually managing a real team even if it's similar to a trial period.

I found an apartment online that I was gonna share a room mate with.

I was then asked to travel down to the Stadium and had a tour around it and the Chairman welcomed me to the club and had a talk with the staff.

Clyde used to be a higher tier team winning 3 Scottish Cups, 5 Ladbrokes Championship, Ladbrokes League 1 and Glasgow Cup but has fallen off the grid. Hopefully I could make that difference for them.

Hello guys, my name is Helmet and this will be my first shot in Football Manager story. My first game was Football Manager 2017 and sucked very badly, hopefully I will be doing well in Football Manager 2018. I've read some guides online regarding previous FMs and tried to soak as much information and knowledge as I can and just felt like having some fun by doing a Journeyman challenge.

This will be my first ever save in FM18, my second attempt at Journeyman. I've sucked at FM 2017 like I said and have never succeeded at any team. I hope that won't deter you from reading this diary that I'll be sharing with you guys regarding my learning process of the game and just enjoying the journey.

Hope you guys enjoy.

Scenario

A 20 year old manager from Singapore have been playing Football Manager for a while now and after doing horribly at the game, he felt like the game was bullshit. That he doesn't believe the game accurately portrays his managerial prowess and have decided to take up the challenge of finding a team to manage. He has decided to go onto a job recruitment website and applied for a Football Managerial role at any club that would accept it. Would his theory be right that his tactics in game would work in real life, or he's so up his arse that he can't differentiate a moon from a star?

A man who has no experience no education regarding managing a team other than his experiences with FIFA and FM tries to go against the norm by trying to get a job. Which crazy club would accept him?

Countries

Achievements

Have you guys ever considered the inclusion of player stats in game in your database?

A good example will be how you can find the stats of players online for FIFA 17 so that players can prepare their team beforehand.

I understand that the database shows the star ratings but I think it'll be more useful if you can check their actual stats from in-game.

I know it might be a hassle to update it alone but I believe with the help of some of the adventurous people in this community who likes to play the most random teams and the most random leagues could help out here and there.