Football Manager 24

[Hampshire1992]

Does anyone use a team other than Southend or heard any good recommendations? Would be nice to give another team a shot.

 

[rowe23]

Does anyone use a team other than Southend or heard any good recommendations? Would be nice to give another team a shot.

I quite often start unemployed now the main game is out, that is always a fun challenge, especially if you set true experience levels, or as as close as possible.

 

[ColinMorrisWalksOnWater]

Got it for Christmas. Started on 27th.

28 games in, Ron has gone, but so did Justin and Jeff Mostyn has taken over the club. Embargo lifted on 31st December, but no cash influx a still a zero transfer budget.

Sitting 11th in he table and 5 points off the play offs and trying to use the loan market to strengthen.

 

[Tyga]

I finally got back to playing. Currently about 36 games in and in 3rd place. Got knocked out of the FA Cup in the 4th round by Lincoln and the FA Trophy by Rochdale in the 5th round.

Embargo lifted on 1st of January and managed to get a striker from Arsenal, Omari Benjamin and a couple of full backs, Benjy McCabe from Norwich and Mekhi Haughton-Parris from Sheffield United in on loan at no cost plus James Morton from Weston-SM for 7K and a young keeper, Dante Baptiste for 2K from Wealdstone on permanent deals.

Colin signed a contract with a club in Cameroon as I couldn't offer him a new contract at a wage he'd accept and Ralph left on a free as he wanted wages we couldn't afford. I released David Martin as he started demanding more game time and he wasn't going to get it.

Back under embargo again as takeover now in progress. Apparently 2 consortiums interested, one of which will sack me if they are the successful bid. Fun times.

Squad very thin, especially at left-back and, once Colin is gone at the end of the season, in goal. That and all the loanees will be off so I'll have to get some signings in over the off-season. Hopefully the consortium that doesn't want to sack me gets over the line and gives me some cash to play with in the off-season.

 

[ColinMorrisWalksOnWater]

Just finished my first season, 15th, which board and fans were pleased with. Knocked out early 4th Qualifying rnd FA Cup by T. Angels and FA Trophy 4th rnd by Dartford. No transfer budget when embargo lifted but did manage to get Jayden Williams on loan from Spurs and Halid Djankpata from Everton, whicvh helped me through the season. Have just got Colin to sign on a 3 year deal, Dave Martin and John Still have just retired, so I have signed Elliott Justham as replacement, Also picked up Morton. But only have a £21k transfer budget and £23k wage budget, so it's an underwhelming takeover to say the least.

 

[Tyga]

First season done and despite a 10 point deduction we managed to hold off Chesterfield to claim the title and promotion back to League 2.

With a three point lead and a massive goal difference advantage over Chesterfield the title was essentially ours regardless of the result in the final game of the season against Rochdale at home. I was flirting with the idea of playing some youth and giving a farewell game to Demi but decided I'd like our best eleven out there for the celebrations.

In the end we won the last game 4-1 despite Colin going down with injury 2 minutes into his final game with the club which gave Dante Baptiste his Southend debut.

Both Callum Powell and Harry Cardwell scored over 20 league goals each, Jack Bridge scored 15 and loanee Omari Benjamin chipped in with 11.

The takeover collapsed with both consortiums not having enough cash apparently which means I'm not sure what I'll have to work with next season. We'll be needing a lot of new players in to strengthen the squad and replace the outgoing loanees. I'm going to attempt to get Benjamin back next season with the step up to League 2 hopefully enough to get the loan over the line.

 

[Seaside Shrimper]

First season done and despite a 10 point deduction we managed to hold off Chesterfield to claim the title and promotion back to League 2.

With a three point lead and a massive goal difference advantage over Chesterfield the title was essentially ours regardless of the result in the final game of the season against Rochdale at home. I was flirting with the idea of playing some youth and giving a farewell game to Demi but decided I'd like our best eleven out there for the celebrations.

In the end we won the last game 4-1 despite Colin going down with injury 2 minutes into his final game with the club which gave Dante Baptiste his Southend debut.

Both Callum Powell and Harry Cardwell scored over 20 league goals each, Jack Bridge scored 15 and loanee Omari Benjamin chipped in with 11.

The takeover collapsed with both consortiums not having enough cash apparently which means I'm not sure what I'll have to work with next season. We'll be needing a lot of new players in to strengthen the squad and replace the outgoing loanees. I'm going to attempt to get Benjamin back next season with the step up to League 2 hopefully enough to get the loan over the line.

View attachment 30552

That is some achievemet!. Would that be the first time a club with a points deduction has won the league?

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

First season done and despite a 10 point deduction we managed to hold off Chesterfield to claim the title and promotion back to League 2.

With a three point lead and a massive goal difference advantage over Chesterfield the title was essentially ours regardless of the result in the final game of the season against Rochdale at home. I was flirting with the idea of playing some youth and giving a farewell game to Demi but decided I'd like our best eleven out there for the celebrations.

In the end we won the last game 4-1 despite Colin going down with injury 2 minutes into his final game with the club which gave Dante Baptiste his Southend debut.

Both Callum Powell and Harry Cardwell scored over 20 league goals each, Jack Bridge scored 15 and loanee Omari Benjamin chipped in with 11.

The takeover collapsed with both consortiums not having enough cash apparently which means I'm not sure what I'll have to work with next season. We'll be needing a lot of new players in to strengthen the squad and replace the outgoing loanees. I'm going to attempt to get Benjamin back next season with the step up to League 2 hopefully enough to get the loan over the line.

View attachment 30552

nicely done. what was your set up?

 

[Tyga]

nicely done. what was your set up?

4-3-3 (or 4-1-2-2-1, I guess), added screenshot below.

I might have to make a few tweaks for next season as having an attacking sweeper keeper and 2 ball playing defenders might be a bit much risk in League 2.

 

[Tyga]

Currently in the off-season trying to put together a team capable of staying up next season.

Staff-wise, John Still has retired and Mark Bentley has left to manage South Shields. I've replaced a few of the lower quality coaches, physios etc. to strengthen the coaching staff as much as I can.

Player-wise, Demi has retired as a player and Jack Wood and Callum Powell will be leaving when their contracts expire in a month or so. Kabongolo is still on a month-to-month contract as I'm not sure if I want to sign him just yet. Bridge has signed a proper contract so it is just Kabongolo who is left in limbo.

Of the loanees I have managed to sign Benjy McCabe on a free transfer from Norwich. I am still waiting to be officially moved into League 2 to see if I can get Omari Benjamin back on loan for another season. At the moment Arsenal want him to play somewhere else for his development, hoping the move up a division might be enough to change their mind.

On the signings front we have been busy. We've signed a couple of left backs who are probably for the future rather than first eleven, Lesley Duru on a free and Harvey Laidlaw on a free from Portsmouth. We've also signed a right back as competition for Gus, Finn Yeats from Falkirk (free), Cameron Antwi, a defensive midfielder from Cardiff (free) and Ryan Barnett, a winger from Wrexham (22K).

I'm still on the lookout for a starting goalkeeper as Colin is leaving, a striker (should Arsenal not want to loan back Benjamin) and probably another winger and centre back to give the squad a bit of depth.

 

[Target man]

4-3-3 (or 4-1-2-2-1, I guess), added screenshot below.

I might have to make a few tweaks for next season as having an attacking sweeper keeper and 2 ball playing defenders might be a bit much risk in League 2.

View attachment 30586

Pretty much the same as mine. I've used thos formation for seasons and it's a winning machine. Not ventured onto FM24 yet as only started 23 in October. Might have to invest now though!

 

[Grayson]

I am still waiting to be officially moved into League 2 to see if I can get Omari Benjamin back on loan for another season. At the moment Arsenal want him to play somewhere else for his development, hoping the move up a division might be enough to change their mind.

Sadly this version of FM doesn't seem to budge on this, even once you reach January. Makes it tricky on loan signings later in the season, as may be better off waiting for summer on a really good one to get a full season from them.

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

i'm still playing 23. did the same thing, couldn't get on with the 352 so went 433 gegenpressing. I was doing a bit **** until i started players Dackers up top who became a god for me

 

[Tyga]

Ron is really making my life difficult in-game at the moment. I got notification that a Qatari businessman was in talks to buy the club and make 31 million available as a transfer budget. An embargo was put in place as the takeover was imminent and then it fell through as the new buyer wasn't able to agree a sale price with Ron.

This is the second or third takeover that has fallen through so far.

 

[Tyga]

i'm still playing 23. did the same thing, couldn't get on with the 352 so went 433 gegenpressing. I was doing a bit **** until i started players Dackers up top who became a god for me

There was a brief period early on in FM23 where defensive formations and tactics actually worked, it might have been when it was still in beta. I was able to grind out 1-0 wins with very defensive tactics then there was an update it went back to normal FM where defensive tactics mean getting battered for 90 minutes. I switched back to my 4-3-3 gegenpress and started winning again.

Its a shame as I would enjoy the game more if different styles of play could be effective. Having a threadbare squad playing a high intensity pressing game isn't ideal but I don't have a choice really.

 

[Target man]

Ron is really making my life difficult in-game at the moment. I got notification that a Qatari businessman was in talks to buy the club and make 31 million available as a transfer budget. An embargo was put in place as the takeover was imminent and then it fell through as the new buyer wasn't able to agree a sale price with Ron.

This is the second or third takeover that has fallen through so far.

It's more real to life than people think!!

 

[Bearded Shrimper]

There was a brief period early on in FM23 where defensive formations and tactics actually worked, it might have been when it was still in beta. I was able to grind out 1-0 wins with very defensive tactics then there was an update it went back to normal FM where defensive tactics mean getting battered for 90 minutes. I switched back to my 4-3-3 gegenpress and started winning again.

Its a shame as I would enjoy the game more if different styles of play could be effective. Having a threadbare squad playing a high intensity pressing game isn't ideal but I don't have a choice really.

agree, would be good to have that much more variety. I managed to kind of switch to possession football coz i kept getting dominated. but on the other hand i'm sure i've seen 4th and 5th tier teams on there playing vertical tikitaka which i'm not convinced is actually a thing

 

[Tyga]

I'm 7 games into the new season in League 2 and currently sitting in 5th place with 4 wins, 2 draws and a loss. We won our opening Carabao Cup game against Gillingham 4-0 before losing to Wycombe in the second round on penalties after a 1-1 draw in normal time. In the other cup competition (Bristol St Motors?) we lost our opening game 3-0 to Portsmouth after fielding a rotated team as I'm not that fussed about that competition at the moment with the focus on the league.

Since last season I have brought in a lot of new players, especially up front to bolster what was a weak attack. Omari Benjamin went back to Arsenal at the end of his loan and Arsenal didn't want to send him back to us even after promotion which left me with Cardwell, Mooney as a makeshift forward and then youth players. I did get a good striker prospect in the youth intake but he is a couple of seasons off first team football.

Ten players have come in on free transfers and one in on loan. I did break one of my rules and signed a couple of players with "fairly susceptible to injuries" in their scout reports as they were players of a standard to make a big difference. One of them has been injured twice in the first month or two of football so I'll probably regret it in the end.

So, we now have plenty of options up front and on the wings plus good depth everywhere else on the pitch. Whether the team is good enough to get anywhere this season I'll soon find out. We started the season preview as predicted to come dead last, we are now predicted to come 12th after the signings so hopefully we stay clear of the drop.

Still no news on any takeover, its still lingering with no long term plans for the club due to the Ron wanting to sell up. At least I got my squad completed before another pre-takeover embargo hit.

 

[Tyga]

The takeover saga is over! It was on the rocks again due to Ron and the buyer not being able to agree on a price (quelle surprise) but then there was a breakthrough and the deal was done.

Good news: Ron is gone, I didn't get sacked.

Bad news: New Chairman was previously involved at Boreham Wood so no money invested and nothing changes in anyway at the club other than new names as Chairman and Director.

 

[ColinMorrisWalksOnWater]

Still in the NL having completed my second season.

Has no transfer budget for the second season on the trot, finished 15th. If ever there was a Southend style takeover I had it! Made the FA CUP 5 rnd knock out by Spurs and Rochdale away in the second rnd FA Trophy, so got some money in.

This season I've got an £84k transfer budget and up to £28k wages.

But sold Gus, Frankie Maguire and Lomas, so my budget is now £110,687.

Picked up; Jayden Richardson, Luca Ashby-Hammond, Jacob Mendy, Joe Snowdon and Reiss McNally all on frees.

Still have £1,400 spare on the wage budget so searching for a WOW signing.

Tel me those that are playing it, what game mode are you playing in. I'm in classic, but wondering if I should have chosen "Real"?