Hello dear friends, it’s time to prepare my Dorchester Town for the fresh challenges in Blue Square Premier. I had a very rewarding debut season in Blue Square South, won the league and amassed a hefty 100 points at the end of the season. The club’s financial situation was not very good though so I was expecting a pretty troublesome summer regarding the transfer activities. Let’s see what happened.
The board told me that they would expect me to drive the team just above the relegation zone, I proposed them a top half finish so the weekly wage budget was increased with a few hundreds of pounds. The transfer budget was somewhat symbolic, only 240 pounds, not enough to buy a good television set…
So I had to do what I did last season, I went to search for some free transfers. I guess my strategy was a bit risky because the first thing that I did was to make offers for the best free and interested players I could find. I managed to put pen to paper with three of them, let’s see who they are.
The first signing was Dutch midfielder Mimoun el Kadi, probably the best player that Dorchester ever had. He is still quite young, only 23 years old, and he was released by Dutch club Den Haag after spending a few seasons there. He could be the key man in my midfield and I surely hope that he will make some progress with us.
The next signing was another midfielder, a Spanish 23 year old named Juanje. He was raised at Atletico Madrid but never managed to break into the first team, now it’s his chance to prove his abilities and progress along with Dorchester Town. He has pretty good technical skills so most probably he will be my new midfield playmaker.
I really didn’t need another striker but when I saw a face I could recognize I went along and make the transfer. Some of you might remember him, his name is Leonardo Biagini, Argentinian with Spanish passport, a striker that played for Primera Division sides Atletico Madrid and Mallorca in the late 1990’s. He is 33 years old now but some of his known skills are still there, he might be able to help us this season.
Then I had to move on and try to find players for the positions that I really needed to cover. My top priority was a new goalkeeper. I was hoping to get a good one on loan but my board failed to find a parent club yet again. Then I found a talented 17 year old from Honduras but he didn’t get a work permit. After several failed transfers I had to settle for Billy Turley, a 37 year old keeper with some League One and League Two experience. He’s not exactly the keeper that I would have wanted but he surely is better than the two guys that I had.
I decided to replace both my goalkeepers when I found an 18 year old Argentinian with Italian passport. He has some talent so I decided to grab him hoping that he would improve quickly and maybe replace Billy Turley between the sticks. Maximiliano Catalano, that’s his name, and I was extremely pleased that he was called up to Italy’s Under 20 squad right after signing the contract with us! Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.
Ana Garcia
16 июня, 2010 at 12:44
Wow, some really good signings Johnny!
Jaunje and el Kadi look really good for the level you will playing at.
Hopefully they settle well into your setup and help you get your top half finish!
Best of luck.
Lye
16 июня, 2010 at 14:21
Hi mate,the two midfield players are pretty good and they should serve you well at this level. I am waiting to see how your team stands this season. You still have a lot of good players from last season squad so i believe you should grab at least a play-off spot.
Callum
16 июня, 2010 at 15:04
good luck johnny think you will do quite well if you don’t get plagued by injuries some really good signings you have a great midfield :)
Majk
16 июня, 2010 at 15:18
Some very good signings there Johnny! I’m sure you’ll challenge for at least a play-off spot.
It’s tough to see the economic situation at the club, I’m having the same issues with Basingstoke. It feels like someone is sucking the money through some unseen backpocket.
Johnny Karp
16 июня, 2010 at 17:20
@Ana
Thanks, I’m quite eager to see those two midfielders in action. They played well in the friendlies so I hope they will do well in the league too.
@Lye
Thanks for the confidence, a play-off spot would be just wonderful. :)
@Callum
Thanks mate, I hope that my physio won’t have too much work to do.
@Majk
Thanks. Maybe you should call the police so they could ask your board a few questions :)
Sears
16 июня, 2010 at 17:29
Johnny — Great signings there , you’ll surly battle for a play off spot. Also , how did you get so much forign players to join your club ? In my game when I try with a lower league team there attributes don’t come up or my assistant doen’s tell me which ones will join and which ones won’t join ? Goodluck!
Johnny Karp
16 июня, 2010 at 17:42
Thanks Sears. I can’t get assistant or scout reports for those players, I just have to assess their skills on my own. I’m not sure if you refer to attribute masking, I turned that off in my game.
Laxeyman
16 июня, 2010 at 18:22
Hi Johnny, the two midfielders look really good and you’ve made some other good signings too. I think you can achive at least mid table, but good luck with injuries, or they could be a problem.
Vinners
16 июня, 2010 at 19:39
Hey, I have read every one of your posts from your Notts Country story and this story. This is the first time I have decided to post, I don’t consider myself as a FM master or anything. But my credentials are that I took Reading to the premiership and won Champions League, Premiership, League and FA cup in one season. In my current game I took AFC Wimbledon from the Blue Square South to League two, then swapped to Wycombe and gained promotion and currently I am 2nd after 16/46 games (I had a 2000-1 bookies rating). I also took Greece to the quarters of the world cup in my Reading game and I am currently with Jamaica but they are poor.
Anyway, I was just going to ask why is there a necessity to have a parent club, I cannot find one either for Wycombe but I just looked for any club which is offering their player on loan then try and pick them up for as cheap as possible. But like I said I probably don’t know FM as well as you.
Oh finally, I play FM 09.
Johnny Karp
16 июня, 2010 at 21:35
@Vinners
Thanks a lot for following the stories here. You did pretty well with your teams, those are very good results. About the parent team, there are a few advantages: they are more likely to accept loan offers for their players from you, they won’t require wage contributions and the most important thing is that their players too are more likely to accept the loan offer. So I guess it would be a big advantage for a small club like Dorchester since most players refuse to come here on loan. Why didn’t you switch to FM 2010?
Vinners
16 июня, 2010 at 23:47
Ah that makes sense, I do have problems where my scout tells me they’d be interested to come on loan, then they reject me. Well that justifies me trying to get a parent club. I don’t really know why I didn’t get FM10 I guess I just need considering I had FM09 but I’ll probably get FM11 once it comes out.
Sears
17 июня, 2010 at 11:44
Johnny, how would you come about turning off attribute masking ? Is it in prefences? Thanks.
Johnny Karp
17 июня, 2010 at 14:56
@Sears
I don’t know for sure but I think that you can do it only when you start a new game, when you select your team, database and so on there is also an option about attribute masking. You should however check in preferences, I can’t open the game right now to check.
Kevin
17 июня, 2010 at 17:11
Hi Johnny
Some really good signings and pre-season results. I like the capture of Lee Molyneux as well. I think he’s a good player. The 23 year old from Den Hagg is not bad either. Best wishes for the new season.
Johnny Karp
17 июня, 2010 at 17:15
Thanks Kevin. I just hope they will stay fit for as long as possible.
Sears
17 июня, 2010 at 20:50
Ok I’ll try find it , thanks Johnny. My exams are nearly finished so I can start playing the game again soon ! Thanks for your help , much appricated.
MO
18 июня, 2010 at 17:33
Hello
I like your story, i have followed the Notts County story as well. Good luck for next season.
PS: Can you show me how to save your football manager game, so if your game crashes, you already have a save to continue from?
Thank You
Johnny Karp
18 июня, 2010 at 17:39
@MO
Thanks a lot for reading the stories. I always save my game to multiple files, you can select that in the preferences: rolling auto save on (every game week)and save to multiple files. That way if the game crashes and you are unable to load the saved game you will always have a backup save game file that you can use. It might not give you the chance to continue exactly from where you left off but it still is a good backup.