Jump to content

FM 2020


ajwffc

Recommended Posts

The Boys from the Basque Country. Season 3.

Took a break from this, but back into it now and season 3 is in the bag. We of course lifted the title against all odds last year, so we were looking for a strong defence of that title and progress in Europe.

basque301.PNG.59a8a9d17af94522779ff9d46609c81f.PNG

In pot 1 this year and although both Chelsea and Ajax were the highest ranked 2nd and 3rd seeds, it's a decent draw.

basque319.PNG.1335c722282d9591b7d80de90c33763a.PNG

We've made really strong starts since I took over and this year was no different. Defence solid as a rock and a few pumpings handed out.

basque320.PNG.a0ebc92e9525bf3cde37370426a231f6.PNG

We were eventually toppled by Celta Vigo after 15 undefeated, add that to last years 12 game end of season run. 

basque315.thumb.PNG.0a7b1b9edcef515345e5c1e9a827fbf7.PNG

Everyone has spent money, especially Barca, and upped their game this year though. Previously at the halfway point, we've been ahead by 4 (lost the league by 3) and ahead by 7 (won the league by 2), so we had our work cut out.

basque321.PNG.512a19456f7ffc46c570e3acd92a624b.PNG

basque322.thumb.PNG.63331031c19e2027e1ab15d125172fd5.PNG

Bit of a sticky start in Europe but recovered magnificently, 4 clean sheets in a row and an outstanding performance in Amsterdam. Man Utd await in the last 16.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Boys from the Basque Country Season 3.

From now on I think I'll organize the updates into 4 parts, 2 halves of the season on the pitch and  summer and winter off field updates.

Nobody in during the window and only 1 out. But it was a big one. The club captain has been punted. It was a decent offer, he fancied it and tbh he's ranged from very underwhelming to half decent in the 2 and a half years. Only 29, he's only signed a 2 year deal in China, so may end up back home at some point. It also gives me room to move financially in the next few windows.

basque323.PNG.b82d2bb30a5f6e9aff99c5a95bfd59e7.PNG

Youth intake was predicted to be another 'golden generation', ended up with one potential baller and another 3 or 4 potential first teamers. Full back on both sides remains an issue, first choices are 32 and 30 with little behind them. A promising RM with decent-ish defensive stats is going to be retrained as a RB. I'm pretty fucked at LB and may have to fork out 30 odd million on some average jobbers release clause in the next 18 months.

basque312.PNG.6458e2aadcd90f6231515a6d5c77762d.PNG

How very exciting. Me and big Aitor got on well, so disappointed to see him go.

basque311.PNG.195f3cfaa9f0bbd9e46d96349ea7864f.PNG

There we go.

basque313.PNG.3d98329dc0c24a7be2c3e00810dc0bcb.PNG

Meh.

basque314.PNG.c8f852c6ba085a558bdb831ade599535.PNG

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Boys from the Basque Country. Season 3.

January/February are huge months in the calendar. Plenty league fixtures, Spanish cup and European competition. First up is a trip to the desert where we sportswash some despicable regime for the 4 team Spanish Super Cup.

basque324.PNG.fec34f74cdd69aaec4ac6dba0cd5d9ba.PNG

basque316.PNG.414c4f80de0e4bd0f2098a4c36a64036.PNG

An impressive victory over Barca and a massive boost as Sevilla beat Real in the other semi. Almost shat the bed against 10 men in the final. Nice wee bit of silverware though.

basque325.PNG.5a2e318345774b8be34af31f8abdc587.PNG

An earlyish exit in the Spanish Cup though. Put a strong team out but we just weren't at the races.

basque326.PNG.0edc98e659bcb4b41ddbbc93119f433d.PNG

Real beat us in a massive clash at the top of the table. It was their 13th win on the trot and they opened up a 5 point gap at the top. We dominated the game, they played the last half hour with 10 men, just couldn't get the goal. Bounced back with a first Nou Camp win, 3 up after 11 minutes in one of the best performances of the last 3 years.

basque329.PNG.3450cf00d9dec0524c30c508d003ee58.PNG

Blew it in the first leg, 2 up and cruising before a daft red card, then lost 2 goals in the last 10 minutes. 2nd leg was evenly matched, they took their chances though and deserved it over the piece.

basque327.PNG.6a57dc8f147a6dd6ef3ac91a8064f5e2.PNG

Out all the cups with just the league to play for, we finished strong with a 14 game unbeaten run trying to chase Real down. Was it enough to retain our crown ?

basque328.thumb.PNG.c76534ac0eb4ba0806af14983ce94721.PNG

Was it f**k. We matched our points tally from last year whilst scoring more and setting a record for least conceded. We've had unbeaten runs of 14 and 15 in the league, only lost 5 games out of 51 all season ( away at Chelsea, Man U and Alaves, home to Vigo and Real Madrid) and only ended up with a fucking Super Cup to show for it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, Gerald Elbowdent said:

First season as Anderlecht. Might not get a 2nd as they're on the verge of doing a Rangers by the looks of things. 😳

 

INbox.thumb.png.952fc49ae3fd2781cfa52a0e317a3481.png

That's rough as f**k 😂

How longs left on the loan?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/06/2020 at 21:29, C. Muir said:

Currently holidaying through in a 14 14 14 SPFL database I downloaded. A proposal that can get in the sea IRL but just curious to see how things pan out after a couple of years. Boys added League 2 North and South which is basically just the highland and lowland leagues with a couple of sides added to each to make them 18 team divisions. 

 

Guy who made this database has edited the Scottish cup, where just about every team in Scotland enters the first round (similar to the one in the Vale of Clyde save I had recently till I binned it).

Decided to take charge of Celtic for their tie against RBL Aviemore. Full strength line up. Absolutely gung-ho tactics, to see how much I could win by.

image.png.7924dc8823d725b51de0377834df3443.png

image.png.444167bc6dd3627302a0e71e2517c3f5.png

Expected more than that tbh after it being 12 at half time. Every outfield player apart from Porteous on the scoresheet. Put him up front for the last 10 mins to try get him a goal :lol: 

Rangers stuck 12 by Saltcoat Vics.

Edited by C. Muir
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, C. Muir said:

 

Guy who made this database has edited the Scottish cup, where just about every team in Scotland enters the first round (similar to the one in the Vale of Clyde save I had recently till I binned it).

Decided to take charge of Celtic for their tie against RBL Aviemore. Full strength line up. Absolutely gung-ho tactics, to see how much I could win by.

image.png.7924dc8823d725b51de0377834df3443.png

image.png.444167bc6dd3627302a0e71e2517c3f5.png

Expected more than that tbh after it being 12 at half time. Every outfield player apart from Porteous on the scoresheet. Put him up front for the last 10 mins to try get him a goal :lol: 

Rangers stuck 12 by Saltcoat Vics.

SHould have had Forster take that penalty in hindsight!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Gerald Elbowdent said:

Some of the Chinese clubs in this, f**k me. Offering me £23.5M upfront for this guy. 🤣

 

648858124_BubacarrSanneh_Profile.thumb.png.1a2075ee8221c64a5e4870636455f550.png

Yeah, and even if the up front offer isn't that great the players can get upset if you reject offers from Chinese teams because of the potential wages they can earn.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Season 6 with the Dons.

Still not finished higher than 3rd but that is now enough for a CL qualifying round. Managed to scrape past Ajax in the playoff with a heroic comeback at Kingsford Stadium (1-0 down at home with 20 minutes left, had drawn 0-0 in Holland).

Bayern, AC Milan and Valencia in the group stages. Managed to finish 3rd but would have qualified had it not been for a 94th minute equaliser at home to Valencia on Matchday 5. Highlight was a 2-1 win in Munich. Lokomotiv Moscow await in the EL.

In the league after 23 games I am 9 points clear of Hearts in 3rd but 6 points off both OF sides. Possibly too late to mount a serious title challenge. 2nd and automatic CL qualification would be a boost at very least.

For the first time now EPL teams are approaching. Brighton, Norwich and Crystal Palace interviews were all declined.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Connor1874's first Pentagon Challenge

As promised, here's my tl;dr Pentagon Challenge summary. For those who don't know what it is, the aim is to start unemployed with the lowest reputation, and win all 5 continental competitions in one save. How you decide to do it is up to yourself. I opted to focus on Africa and Asia first as I felt Europe for example could take years to build up a reputation to get decent jobs. Of course more challenging, but I just wanted to get it done as it has been on my list for some time now. Also, I'm playing on the Touch version, so no coaching badges and the likes. Not sure if that makes it easier though or harder, as you're purely judged on your successes rather than able to build your rep with an abundance of badges.

Africa

Real Kings - I'd be lying if I said I'd heard of my first club. I was offered the job halfway through the South African 2nd tier season with Real Kings fighting for survival. Very little in way of financial leverage to do much with the squad so just had to get stuck in. Instant pick up in form led to us getting some breathing space, and we survived comfortably. My first full season saw me do some smart business, and we started the season strong. We even pulled off a couple of upsets in the FA Cup getting to the quarter finals. We ended up finishing 3rd in the South African First Division which was far more than expected of us. That entered us into the playoffs, a 3 team mini league between 2nd bottom in the Premier, and 2nd and 3rd from the First Division. You play each team home and away, and the team who tops the mini league goes up. That team was me. Ready to start preparing for life in South Africa's top tier, I was then given an offer I couldn't turn down...
Mamelodi Sundowns - Perhaps the biggest club in South Africa outwith Kaiser Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, I couldn't say no. A club that I knew I could achieve stuff with, and helped by the fact they had a Chinese billionaire owner who was offering me a sizeable transfer budget for South African football. I had no real idea how the CL qualification worked, but turns out I was in it for next season! All the more reason to come to Sundowns. We also participated in the African Confederations Cup, which I just assumed was a Europa League equivalent. In many ways it was, but the massive difference was I played in both at the same time. 
The early rounds of the African CL were some laugh. The most mental result was beating a team from South Sudan 26-0 on aggregate. The season was the longest I've ever played. On top of the league season, we played in 3 domestic cups, as well as 2 continental trophies. Of the 3 domestic trophies, I only won 1. I did however win the African Confederations Cup, and more importantly, the African CL. After that final, I still had 5 games to play in the league while everyone else was finished. I had plenty opportunities to win the title, but my squad were knackered and we faltered in the end. I didn't care though. My fairly brief, but fun and successful time in Africa was over, on to Asia I went.
 

Asia

Henan Jianye - I was offered a job in China with a Henan side midway through their campaign but trying to stay up, much like my time at Real Kings. As you know though, in China comes plenty money to play with. I already had a few talented foreign players too in Serge Aurier and Lucas Ocampos. I kept Henan up comfortably in my half season, and then ended my first full season winning the league title. A successful spell domestically with Henan, but 3 failed attempts at winning the CL. I resigned in a huff after 3rd attempt (stupidly) as most of my squad had ****ed off to the World Cup, leaving me a threadbare squad for my last 16 tie. Upon resigning I decided I wanted a go in Korea, so it was off too...
Pohang Steelers - Not much to report here. My crack at Korea was uneventful. Domestic talent was far better, but a lot more limited in terms of finance. A good wee competitive league, I guided them to 3rd in my first half season, but was struggling to get back in the top 3 in my full season. In between that came another failed CL attempt. I then decided to pack in and wait for a top job. I was getting impatient at this point, so rash decisions were being made.
DL Pro - Or Dalian Yifang as they're known in real life. I never intended on this job. I wanted a top job. But I went on holiday while unemployed, and when I came back, I was already manager. Struggling in the Chinese Super League, I was faced with another Henan task. Not really what I was looking for, but maybe I needed to start from scratch? Also, a huge transfer budget swung it a bit too. Like Henan, I turned DL from strugglers to champions in a season and a bit. A few more unsuccessful CL campaigns followed, but finally, in 2030, Asia was complete. Again, a load of players missed the last 16 through World Cup participation, but I got through it. Then the Asian Under 23 games came and depleted my squad more, but again I got through it. Thank ****.

North America

Toronto FC - I intended on going to Mexico as I'd never experienced their league before, but an ambitious Toronto was the first job I was offered, and I was seriously tempted. Canadian MLS clubs have a further way into the CL by winning the Canadian Championship, a 10 team knockout cup between the 3 MLS clubs and 7 Canadian League clubs. My time at Toronto was fairly brief but very successful. My first crack at the NACL didn't go to plan. I drew Atlanta United and lost on away goals. The following season, we drew them again and got revenge. I got all the way to the final and drew Mexican giants America. I led 1-0 for most of the first leg, but was suckerpunched twice in the last 5 minutes. It looked like another season was needed. In the 2nd leg at the Azteca, we were being battered, and needed to win by 2. Luck was finally on my side though, America were reduced to 10 men, and we pounced on that with a quickfire double, and leg 3 of my journey was done. 

South America

Lanus - I was excited to be in Argentina, a league I've never really experienced but have massive respect for. Lanus was my first job offer, and they were sat 3rd so I decided to take it. I managed to get them upto 2nd pretty quickly, but I knew that Libertadores success was going to be tough. I was only at Lanus for about a dozen games. My departure came as I was offered another job, one I couldn't turn down...
River Plate - I couldn't say no to the opportunity of managing this club, and I'm glad I didn't I had one of my favourite experiences at a club with River. My league record was unbelievable, going unbeaten 2 full seasons in a row and scoring 100+ goals in all 3 of my seasons. I only suffered 5 league defeats in the league in a total of 3 and a half seasons. It was a case of 3rd time lucky for the Libertadores. Flamengo were the dominant force when I arrived, spanking teams left, right and centre. They beat me in the semi's of my 2nd attempt, but I ended their dominance at the 3rd attempt, gubbing them 4-1 in the final. Was pretty sad that my time in Argentina was over, but only one more continent to crack...

Europe

Manchester City - within days of my resignation at River, City were after me, and had just qualified for the last 16 of the Champions League so it was as good a club as any other. They weren't in the best nick though, sat 10th when I took over, I was prepared for a couple of seasons job, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I insisted on playing my attacking, high press 4-3-3 in the league, as I had done with every other club, but I decided to park the bus in the CL away from home. I overcame Juve and Dortmund in the last 16 and QF first legs by beating them 1-0 at home, and defending those leads away. Then it was Liverpool in the semi's who were dominating the PL. A 2-1 defeat at Anfield meant I had no option but to attack them in the 2nd leg, and it was our performance of the season. We battered them for 90 minutes, but more importantly won 2-0 and off to the final we went. We had only finished 6th in the league, and the squad were all publicly slating me for underachieving (despite the fact I wasn't even in charge for the first 20 games and I took them 4 places up in the 18 I was in charge) so I was really hoping to win this. Failure to do so meant I was in the EL2 but given the ego's in the squad, I probably would've just resigned. Not that I needed to in the end, a scrappy 1-0 win meant I was European champions, and in 2038, my challenge was finally done.
 
I really went through all the motions in this save, the excitement of completing my first leg, followed by the frustration in Asia of needing about 7 years! Winning the CL with City and completing the journey didn't feel particularly exciting, more just a sigh of relief that it was over. I've put so much time into this save over the last few weeks, and proud to say I've done it, but glad to put it behind me too. A great career though, my honours and managerial record are as follows:
All time managerial record - P841 W599 D128 L114 F1989 A610 - Win Percentage 71%
Honours -
South African Super 8
African Confederations Cup
African Champions League
5x Chinese Super League
5x Chinese FA Cup
5x Chinese Super Cup
Asian Champions League
MLS Cup
MLS Supporters Shield
2x MLS Eastern Conference
2x Canadian Championships
North American Champions League
3x Argentine Premier Division
3x Argentine Cup
2x Argentine Super Cup
Copa Libertadores
UEFA Champions League
Very interesting read mate, well done.

Can i ask, how long did this take you? You mentioned a few weeks. How's that even possible?

I'm playing fm19 a wee bit these days (an hour or 2, every other day) - and it takes well over a week for 1 season.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 minutes ago, pandarilla said:

Very interesting read mate, well done.

Can i ask, how long did this take you? You mentioned a few weeks. How's that even possible?

I'm playing fm19 a wee bit these days (an hour or 2, every other day) - and it takes well over a week for 1 season.

Depends on the match engine I suppose. Games and substequently seasons used to be a slog for me cause I watched 3D extended highlights. But since changing to key highlights in 2D with 3D replays and speed between highlights/during text only highlights set at the fastest it can go, I can fly through the months pretty quickly.

Edited by C. Muir
Link to comment
Share on other sites

49 minutes ago, pandarilla said:

Very interesting read mate, well done.

Can i ask, how long did this take you? You mentioned a few weeks. How's that even possible?

I'm playing fm19 a wee bit these days (an hour or 2, every other day) - and it takes well over a week for 1 season.

Think he said he was playing the touch version, which I believe is less detailed and much quicker than the full one.

How many leagues have you got loaded up? 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Started a game with Fiorentina recently and have just completed the first season.

Board expected to finish mid-table with a small progression every year but I feel with the potential in the squad they're selling themselves a little short. Bought in one player, Lovro Majer from Dinamo Zagreb, for £8.25M. My fixture list was pretty good - played all of the top teams bar Roma in the first 10 fixtures and managed to not embarrass ourselves, drawing with Inter, Milan and Lazio and losing only to Juventus.

The second quarter of fixtures were more favourable, we were drawing a lot of games but were sitting 6th in the league come January. It was hard to keep our momentum against the bigger teams but we remained resolute and in April we found ourselves in the chase for Europa League qualification, or better yet, the Champions League. A record of W7D2 in our last nine games, including a resounding 5-2 thrashing of Roma at the Artemio Franchi last game of the season saw us finish 5th, two points off CL qualification, but straight into the Europa League group stages.

1381843457_Screenshot2020-06-17at01_23_49.thumb.png.754d6270b169479dcdaa92552e54664d.png

Disappointing to come so close to CL but that's definitely a cut above where we are right now and I would expect us to get knocked out pronto. The Europa League gives us something to work on and test ourselves whilst letting our squad gel and settle together whilst also giving us the possibility of qualifying for the CL through the back door. 

My main concern was keeping the bulk of the team together. Many of my players have expressed interest in moving to a bigger team. Chiesa, Milenkovic, Dragowski and Pulgar have all been targeted several times but I'm remaining resolute and not budging unless the board or a player forces my hand. I have promised Milenkovic we'll be playing Champions League football next season.

I did sell captain German Pezzella for £32M to some Chinese mob, which has helped with bringing in some new players along with the plethora of players who have either came back from loan or on these nonsense obligation-to-buy deals. Igor, Lirola, Duncan, Kouame and Agudelo have all joined up permanently. I'm looking to still get Sarponara, KP Boateng, Biraghi, among others away from the club.

I brought in Yari Verschaeren for £13.5M from Elbowdent's Anderlecht, Fluminese's Marcos Paulo for £14M and Andrea Cistana from relegated Brescia for £4.4M. I still have a little money in the bank, so that was used to sign Chiesa and Dragowski on better, long-term deals. These transfers go against the boards expectancy of signing 'good reputation' players but if they give me a transfer budget of £12m it's not much to work with if you're expecting names! 

Hoping we've not shot ourselves in the foot selling Pezzella and our aim has to be CL qualification this season. I hope the fixtures don't pile up and I hope we have enough depth for the inevitable THU/SUN/THU/MON backlog.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Think he said he was playing the touch version, which I believe is less detailed and much quicker than the full one.
How many leagues have you got loaded up? 
Er, not sure. Think i go with the recommendations, maybe just English and Scottish.

I get that the highlights can be changed - but it's the every day shite you have to wade through that gets me.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, Gerald Elbowdent said:

THe match engine on this game is sooooooo bad. Has anyone ever scored a 1-on-1 in the entire time its been released?

Are you on the latest version?

It was a big on earlier patches, but has been resolved. A lot of my goals are 1-on-1, and I've even had strikers round the keeper.

11 hours ago, pandarilla said:

Er, not sure. Think i go with the recommendations, maybe just English and Scottish.

I get that the highlights can be changed - but it's the every day shite you have to wade through that gets me.

Give Touch a go. It removes a lot of the shite aspect of the day to day running of the club.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 18/06/2020 at 09:09, pandarilla said:

Very interesting read mate, well done.

Can i ask, how long did this take you? You mentioned a few weeks. How's that even possible?

I'm playing fm19 a wee bit these days (an hour or 2, every other day) - and it takes well over a week for 1 season.

Think all in it was about 3-4 weeks. In fairness I play the Touch version of FM on the laptop. I haven't got the patience for the full version. Another benefit of Touch is the ability to instant result matches. I didn't make a total habit of that but it's handy for when you've won the title with games to spare and just want to fly through games. I'm working from home too so I was literally playing all day. 😂

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...