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This will be an interesting month. In the league we face two bad teams, two mid teams, and one good team. In cup play we have a milquetoast in Basingstoke (FA Cup), an unknown in Leicester U23s (Checkatrade Trophy), and our demise in Manchester City (Carabao Cup). I know we'll lose to Man City and possibly Leicester, unless they treat the cup like Fulham did.
Alhamdulillah! Finally our first month of just positives in forever! Okay, it was only three months but it felt like an eternity.
Oh boy. A major step up in loses, last month to the tune of £290,960. I'm not sure why but there was a £50,000 loss for transfers but I have no idea where that came from. Oh well, we still have £22,153,193 in the bank.
It's a little bit of a bounce back this month, going up to 84%. I think the fans are slightly happy about the arrival of Michael Stewart And I won the Manager of the Month Award.
Back on 18 October Luke Matthews moved up to the Influential rung. I like this. But I need either Desmond Brizan or Pat Lawford to step up as Stephen McGregor, Tasos Noulas, and Peter Smith might not be here next season.
Mostly good on this front.
A youth afterthought named Matt Hirst has an amazing month. He's a DC and he had green arrows in all the usual places in Technicals and Physicals, and half his Mentals. He doesn't have much of a future but at least he's trying.
Thamindu Noel's mentoring by Desmond Brizan continues to impress. His Determination climbed two points to 14 and his Leadership went up a point. Eleven other Attributes had green arrows.
Mark Curran hasn't improved in his Focus, Marking, in three months and hasn't recovered from his catastrophic July. I call him in and bitch him out. He seems to have taken my words to heart. Time will tell. Oddly, his Determination improved to 13 sometime during October.
Luke Matthews still isn't Natural at MC but at least my AssMan thinks he is a good League One player now.
Raymond Devlin saw an increase in his star ratings, from 2.5/3.5 to 3.0/4.0. I kinda expected this. He's going to be great. Supposing his Pace gets somewhat respectable.
I didn't get a loan report this month. Probably for the better anyways as the two miscreants still aren't doing much
It's International News time! Brizan and Henson Debellotte will be with Grenada on 9 and 11 November, while Richard Phillips will be with Trinidad & Tobago on 11 and 15 November. It's not too much of a big deal. Until I read the next email. Our match with Man City has been pushed back to 30 November because a lot of their players will be away on internationals, so they request a postponement. Jerks. Well, on the bright side, we now don't have any matches between 12 and 18 November so we'll get some rest after all.
Maidstone are an interesting team. Even in real life they've been slowly improving from obscurity to the Conference South in 2014/2015, into the Conference National the next season, and finally, in this Alternate Universe, League Two in 2019/2020. This season they are projected to finish 15th and are currently 16th. Not much of a problem but I'll still treat them with respect, so I'll field my preferred XI.
vs. Maidstone, 2 November 2022
Formation: Arrow (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC (Regista), MC c (BBM), AMR, AML, ST r (DLF), ST l (AF))
Starting XI: Lee, Lawford, Evans, Brizan, Curran, Caffrey, Matthews, Smith, McGregor, Devlin, Burns
Subs: Legg, Nickson, Cosgrove, Cockbill, Noulas, Leary, Macey
Oy. Another slow start. But a Peter Smith cross to a John Burns head get's the party started. And they give a repeat performance just minutes later though the cross was low to Burns' foot. Out star gets his hat trick at 46:30 with the build-up coming on the left side so that McGregor can join the fun. Smith won't get a trifecta of assists as he stubs his toe shortly after the resumption of match; off he comes for Leary. Burnsie gets the heave-ho at 60' for Macey, who goes to the left as a Defensive Forward. A lot of players are getting complacent but Matthews is the worst offender as he's rating a 6.7, by far the lowest of the lot. On comes Noulas! But as per usual, we give up an easy goal in the 86th. Idiots.
POM: John Burns 9.5 (3 goals, 2 key passes, 1 chance created)
I give them a Calm "what the heck happened in the second" talk and amazingly mostly everybody gained focus or got motivated. Oh damn! The stubbed toe ain't a small thing; he'll be out 4 to 7 days. Ouch!
We made £35,980 playing those Maidens on a Wednesday. We've gotta start bringing in more fans. I know in FM2014 you could ask the board to have a Fan Day in an attempt to lure more locals to the stadium but I can't find out how to do it in FM2018. Maybe because technically we aren't underperforming there I don't get the option? Oh well.
Well, that was quick. On Thursday morning Smith's stubbed toe is down to him being out 1 to 4 days. Excellent. I mean, it's not like he was going to play against Basingstoke anyways...
Some more international news for you: Colin Cockbill, George Bunn, and Pat Lawford get called up for England. The first two for the U19s, and last one for the U20s. Out 10 and 14 November, respectively. And then six more get called up right before the FA Cup match. David Caffrey, Mark Curran, and Chris Keegan for Ireland U21s; John Burns and Raymond Devlin for Northern Ireland; and Michael Stewart for Northern Ireland U21s. I'm offered the chance to postpone our match versus Sutton on the 12th. That's gonna be a no for me, dawg.
You'd think with us going against such a weak opponent I'd bring up some U23s. Well, they have a match in two days so it's just the Seniors second XI. And then I see that several players are still tired. So a number of subs will be from the U23s and one player is going to be from the U18s, Richard Phillips, a promising striker from England who represents Trinidad & Tobago. He has six caps for them and two goals. Hopefully he'll get to make his senior debut for us today.
at Basingstoke, 5 November 2022
Formation: Diamond Attack (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC (DLP), MR, ML, AMC (AM), ST r (DLF), ST l (AF))
Starting XI: Legg, Nickson, Cosgrove, Cockbill, Sterling, Noulas, Dryden, Keegan, Flitcroft, Marshall, Macey
Subs: Lee, Peers, Noel, Thomas, Curran, Debellotte, O'Reilly, Leary, Hoddle, Carolan, Phillips, Lemon
Am I pleased that it takes until 28:28 to get our first shot? No. Am I pleased that it's Macey's noggin that finally gives us a lead? Slightly. Okay, in the 34th Macey also gets an assist with Chris Keegan getting the score. I'm starting to relax. With thoughts of yesterday, I warn the players against complacency; most get the message. I was worrying about the lackluster flow in the second half but then Sam Sterling launches a loooong pass to Mark Marshall who is able to beat the goalie one-on-one. Again, thinking of our last match, I do go to the Cudgel at 65' with the plan to get Lemon some match fitness... Despite a couple of threats, including two corners, Basingstoke can't get their shots on target and we stroll home with a clean sheet.
POM: Sam Sterling 8.5 (1 assist, 3 key passes, 1 chance created)
Really didn't expect Sterling to get the POM... I did expect to get £34,560 in prize money though. Woot!
As always, the Sunday after a cup match means it's draw time. For the FA Cup Second Round we face... Oh excellent! We host Bradford! In theory my favorite team in real life plus they have former Brixton players GK Robert Webb and ST Marcus "Thriller" Thirlwell. It'll be fun to see how good they are these days. We'll face them on 3 December.
Our next match will be in front of a nearly empty stadium, with my Press Officer saying only 460 fans are expected. Lame. The Leicester U23s are expected to put up a good fight so I'll have to be mindful of that when it comes to selection.
We have a fair amount of representation in the League Two Team of the Week. Lee gets in at goal, Brizan as left fullback, "Stubbed Toe" Smith at right midfielder, and Burns at right striker. I suppose the TotW will always be in the 4-4-2 formation.
Yes, a "weakened" squad today. Brizan is getting all international and Smith is recovering from his boo-boo. At some points the media were calling this a difficult match for us but then during the pre-match tactical brief my AssMan was saying we are favorites. I don't know what to expect. Well, a small crowd is what to expect, evidently.
vs. Leicester Under 23s, 8 November 2022
Formation: Arrow (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC (Regista), MC c (BBM), AMR, AML, ST r (DLF), ST l (AF))
Starting XI: Lee, Lawford, Evans, Noel, Curran, Caffrey, Matthews, Leary, McGregor, Devlin, Burns
Subs: Legg, Cosgrove, Cockbill, Lemon, Noulas, Smith, Macey
I scored big with my pre-match speech! Seven guys are motivated. Two of them, McGregor and Burns, combine for our first goal in the 10th minute, though McG's assist should have gone to the right post; Burns pounced on the rebound and nudged the ball in. I'm not forced to wait to see that Luke Matthews is also motivated, and this time McG's assist is organic. When the restart continues to be shown I begin to worry. Ye of little faith. Regista Caffrey sends a rainbow ball to Target Man Devlin and he simply passes off to the left for Advanced Forward Burns, who sends a low cross to Devlin for his score. I immediately put on the brakes and go to Control. We still get a goal courtesy of Leary and about a half-dozen rebounds in the six-yard box.
Ouch. After 45 we are accurate on 10 of 19 shots and they have yet to have a single shot. It comes as a surprise that we get a fifth goal from Noel; the surprise is that it's not from a corner but open play and a Matthews cross. I need to get Smith and Lemon fitness so they come on; Smith at right striker, Lemon at central midfielder. Macey also comes on for McG at left wing. And that seals the deal! Leicester managed to get two shots at goal but only one was on target. An amazing Lee stop kept our clean sheet.
POM: Luke Matthews 9.3 (1 goal, 1 assist, 3 key passes, 2 chances created)
WOOooo! Five goals by five lads and a clean sheet. I like it!
Hmmm… On the morning of the 9th my scouts present a pretty good left fullback to me. His name is Eric Curran but is not related to our DL Mark Curran. He would be an upgrade over Sterling and Steve Pike but he would be costly, to the tune of half- to a full million pounds. He doesn't have a great Natural Fitness (9) so he'd not be a solution as a starter. His contract expires in 7 months so I think I'll add him to my shortlist to see if I can lure him over this summer. My scouts don't think he'd ask for more than £725 per week. (If we sign him I'll change his last name cuz I can't have two left fullbacks with the same last name. Unless they were brothers.)
We made it through the Checkatrade Trophy group stage with a perfect record so now it's time to see who we face next in the knockout stages. I think. I never got an email and when I went-a lookin', there's nothing on our schedule. It is a mystery! But on the 10th there was the Carabao Cup Fourth Round draw. (We should have played Manchester City by now in the Third Round but their schedule is soooo busy.) If by some miracle we get past City, we get to host Leicester or Tottenham. We're doomed!
Brizan and Debellotte had a great game, beating Saint Martin 4-0, and rating 7.8 and 7.3, respectively. Then on the 11th Burns gets another goal for the NIR seniors. He should be back in their good traces.
We are taking on a neighbor in Sutton and even though they are 12th in the league I do worry that having key players away on international duty can prove problematic. Prove me wrong, boys!
at Sutton, 12 November 2022
Formation: Arrow (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC (Regista), MC c (BBM), AMR, AML, ST r (DLF), ST l (AF))
Starting XI: Lee, Nickson, Noel, Evans, Sterling, Noulas, O'Reilly, Smith, McGregor, Marshall, Flitcroft
Subs: Legg, Cosgrove, Cockbill, Lemon, Matthews, Leary, Macey
Oh boy. Twenty minutes of striker ineptitude makes me reach for the Pepto-Bismol. Lazy passing, inaccurate shooting, and easily dispossessed. But the wingers are working together, initially McGregor crossing to Smith for a relatively easy shot in. And seven minutes later it's a mirror image. Maybe we'll get through this unscathed? Then it's Marshall crossing to McGregor for our third. Oh yeah!
Goal four is one of those FM Specials. Sutton get a throw-in inside their territory, Noulas the Regista intercepts and skys a ball to just outside the box. The goalie misjudged things and the ball bounced over him and Marshall, but thanks to Flitcroft's Pace, he gets to the ball first and scores a super-easy goal. So at 65:10 when we get our fifth from an early cross by Smith to Marshall, I go to the Cudgel. It was successful for three minutes. GRRRRR!!! And then we give up another at 82'. What the hell?! Seems both may have been at the feet of Colin Cockbill as he ended the match with a 6.1 rating.
POM: Stephen McGregor 9.5 (2 goals, 1 assist, 3 key passes, 2 chances created)
I think I just went Defensive too soon. At least that's the lie I'm gonna tell myself.
I give Cockbill a formal reprimand. So rate a 6.1 in only 25 minutes of action is unsatisfactory. And he's shocked! Feels I was too harsh. Ingrate.
Oh thank Cthulhu, a whole week off. Hopefully our internationals come back with no wounds and can make the next match.
How many weeks in a row is it that Lee has made it into the Team of the Week? He's joined by Evans and Sterling in the center of the backline, McGregor as the right midfielder, Noulas as the right central midfielder, and Smith as the right striker. So it goes.
So this week prior to the AFC Telford match I'm going to be focusing on learning the Cudgel better. Because originally the 19th was gonna be Manchester City I'd already planned to learn that tactic. We need to be prepared for City so we'll do this in the one day available before playing them.
Someone get me a coldpack! My AssMan has confirmed my suspicions! Gael Barbier is a Premier League talent! Hallelujah!
Raymond Devlin got his first cap for Northern Ireland in 9 minutes of action against Australia. In the same match Burns rated 9.0 from two assists. And for Trinidad & Tobago, Richard Phillips scored two goals against Honduras, rating 8.4. Good on ya!
Finally! The Checkatrade Trophy draw happens at 2145 on 16 November. I figure some teams had to get that third match in. Unregardless™, we face fellow League Two side Colchester at home on 21 December.
Well check that out! Sam Young, mega wing-sub, scores a goal for Newport County. About time he did something of note. He too is coming home in January.
Yes, I'm sticking with the Cudgel to begin. Why not? Some players came back from Internationals tired or jaded; Caffrey is very jaded. I don't expect to score a lot but just in case we go down early I have a number of attackers and wingers on the bench. By the way, Telford are 22nd in the league.
vs. AFC Telford, 19 November 2022
Formation: Cudgel (GK, DC r, DC c, DC l, WBR, WBL, MC r (CM), MC c (BWM), MC l (CM), ST r (DF-S), ST l (TM-A))
Starting XI: Lee, Noel, Evans, Brizan, Lawford, Curran, Matthews, Noulas, O'Reilly, Flitcroft, Marshall
Subs: Legg, Nickson, Cosgrove, Cockbill, Dryden, Macey, Devlin
Each team had a good chance in the first half with Matthews almost getting one in for us from a free kick. But this Cudgel thing is an abject failure. Going to the attack! I did not expect that having Matthews at AMR would really work out well but he scores just 16 seconds after the restart. Damn. And damn again. But that's because we give up a goal just into the 62nd from a free kick. Flitcroft and Marshall have been stinking up the joint so they'll probably get the heave-ho soon. Macey puts the team on his back in the 83rd and it takes him three minutes to score, running half the field with a Curran pass and slotting one under the goalie's ribs. That's just what Captains do. To Control! And he does it again in the 94th after Noulas stops an attack, sends it out right to Dryden, who then sends an early cross to Eddie.
POM: Eddie "The Beast" Macey 8.6 (2 goals)
That was all my fault. But Brizan and Flitcroft rocked 6.4s so I had to yank them and afterwards give them some choice words; that somehow motivated them even more.
Further evidence my use of Cudgel in a league match was a bad idea? Only Macey gets into the Team of the Week. At least he's in the right position? (That'd be right striker.)
Speaking of strikers... My scouts are working overtime assessing players at the club. They report that Trinbagonian Richard Phillips is believed to be Championship talent. Hot damn! (That likely means he's really Premiership. Fingers crossed!)
It's back to the Arrow we go! It's not the full crew but I still think we can beat them in their Crown Oil Arena, which is 173 miles to the northwest, in another northeast suburb of Manchester. Oldham must be their fiercest rival.
at Rochdale, 22 November 2022
Formation: Arrow (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC (Regista), MC c (BBM), AMR, AML, ST r (DLF), ST l (AF))
Starting XI: Legg, Nickson, Cosgrove, Cockbill, Sterling, Caffrey, Flitcroft, Dryden, Keegan, Devlin, Burns
Subs: Lee, Buckle, Jenkins, Lemon, Leary, Smith, Marshall
Remember the good ol' days when we used to score early and often? Me too. But that's not happening today either. Flitcroft is down to 6.1 at the half but Devlin isn't much better, at 6.4. Off they come at 68' along with Cockbill and his yellow card. We are crap until the 75th when a free kick out right is not sent into the box but to top of the arc where Dryden awaits so he can send to Lemon. He's able to scoot forward and send a precisely-placed shot into the upper left. So the next move obviously is giving up a corner then giving a goal just 4 minutes later.
But we're saved by an own goal! I went Overload and pushed people forward. We managed to get an organized attack going but when Dryden's low cross to Burns get intercepted, it goes straight from their left central defender's leg right into goal.
POM: Chris Dryden 8.2 (1 assist, 5 key passes, 2 chances created)
Ooofff. Accurate on 6 of 21 shots. This is two horrible matches in a row by Devlin. Ruh-roh, Raggy!
My scouts find another DL that looks good but not great, so he'd be perfect to be Curran's shadow. Problem is that he'd cost probably around £1,000,000. Too much for a back-up. Can't wait for the days when we drop a cool mil just because we can. Also, his name is Jordan Gordon. Barf.
Wednesday is the Manchester City match. Today is a creampuff at home. For those who don't know me by now, that was shorthand for fielding a weakened squad.
vs. Carlisle, 26 November 2022
Formation: Arrow (GK, DR, DC r, DC l, DL, DMC (Regista), MC c (BBM), AMR, AML, ST r (DLF), ST l (AF))
Starting XI: Lee, Nickson, Cosgrove, Cockbill, Sterling, Noulas, O'Reilly, Smith, McGregor, Marshall, Macey
Subs: Legg, Noel, Thomas, Lemon, Wainwright, Leary, Flitcroft
"I expect nothing but a win to keep our run going" is a good speech. Gift penalties are better though. Even better, strikers who can sink penalty shots. You hear, Mr. Marshall? Guess not. Macey was the only player inspired by my pre-match speech so it seems appropriate that he scores our first goal. Marshall continues to falter repeatedly, missing easy goals and hitting the wood. It gets so bad that he drops to a 6.1 rating. So of course that means he heads in a McGregor cross and we're up two. Then we're up three! Macey is a man possessed, striking the ball mid-air into the upper right corner.
And then a fourth. I really thought O'Reilly was passing up the middle for someone to run onto the ball but his shot is a 21-yard carpet-burner that goes in, squeezing right past the left post. The second stanza goes quietly until the 76th when Lemon, on as a DMC, scores from a throw-in; he's still not back to Fully Fit.
POM: Eddie Macey 9.4 (2 goals, 1 key pass)
Well that went as expected. Almost. I expected to concede a goal. I'm glad Lee finally got a league clean sheet for the first time since 29 October against Oldham.
Huh. Macey has passed Burns on the league top goals chart as well as the POM one. Neat. I really thought he might be past his prime. Ye of little faith...
U23 Coach Shooting Coach Martin Affeld from Germany has completed his intensive language course and is now fluent in English. He started said course on 27 June so it's a small miracle he's already fluent; he only has a 13 Adaptability.
Fudge. Caffrey wants to transfer to Bristol City. They haven't even made an offer! I ask Macey to handle the matter; Caffrey drops the matter.
Woot! Four players in the Team of the Week. We have Lee in goal, Smith at right midfielder, O'Reilly at right central midfielder, and Eddie at right striker.
I did not remember this but Ben Evans is a former Manchester City player. Hopefully playing in their stadium again won't overwhelm him. Also, we have a 1 in 6 chance of winning. I'd say it's lower than that.
Naturally, there is a press conference beforehand. I have got to start counting the number of questions in these things. It's getting really annoying... There were two follow up questions over the next few hours. Nothing too dangerous. There was one question about the financial windfall the match represents. Tell me more...
There's really not much more to say about this. We are going to lose in front of 42,455 spectators. How many traveled from Brixton? I just don't want the lads to suffer too much ego damage.
at Manchester City, 30 November 2022
Formation: Cudgel (GK, DC r, DC c, DC l, WBR, WBL, MC r (CM), MC c (BWM), MC l (CM), ST r (DF-S), ST l (TM-A))
Starting XI: Lee, Noel, Evans, Brizan, Lawford, Curran, Matthews, Caffrey, Dryden, Burns, Devlin
Subs: Cosgrove, Cockbill, Lemon, Leary, Macey
Things were going alright until the 19th when someone, it wasn't displayed, fouled a Citizen in the box. The penalty taker sent the ball straight at Lee and we survive for a few more minutes. Well not even 10 minutes. Dryden gets easily dispossessed and they get us on the counter; nobody on the defense looked capable at all during the cross. Yeesh. Despite that, we go into the half only down one goal. Devlin and Burns are stinking up the joint, rocking 6.4s. One of them is down to 6.1. Ouch.
Well hell. We get a throw-in deep in their territory, on the right side. We show incredible skills, passing from Lawford to Brizan, back to Lawford for a cross, Burns nods back to Caffrey, and he sends it off to the left to a lonely Dryden at the left post. And we're tied!
FUDGE! We were so close! We gave up a corner kick goal just before 88'. Drat! Then the wheels come off. We are not ready for prime time.
POM: Manchester City's Kirill Kolesnikov (2 goals, 1 assist, 1 key pass)
The fact that Lee stopped a penalty, we got a goal, and were still in it so late counts as a minor victory in my book.
We made a pretty penny in Manchester! Exactly £432,778. We will turn a profit this month!
Yes, I'm going to The Twenty-Three. I need to show how GKs Michael Stewart and Gael Barbier are better than Andy Lee. Plus, Brizan isn't The Answer. There are some other new entries that show the reality that in previous months I was focusing too much on the Now and not the Future.
As far as what's new on the Potential Ability front, Alex Wainwright is Championship-level now.
So the top 14 are all Championship or Premier League players. I think Beirne will be Premier eventually but I'm pretty sure the assessments on Nickson and Sterling are accurate. If we don't get a really good DR and DL on Youth Intake Day, I'll go sign some come the summer.
I would say the month went as expected. I knew we would lose to Man City. I knew we would beat Basingstoke. I was pretty confident we would win all our league matches, where, we still have a perfect record but still only one clean sheet in five matches. About 65% of me thinks this is just FM being FM. The other 35% thinks it has something to do with my tactics or players. I really should do some kind of experiment. Maybe just staying in the formation we started with? I don't know.
