Morning (at least for me) FM friends and welcome back to the latest update in my Plymouth Argyle story. Well I forgot to set my clock back one hour last night which turned out to be a bonus as I could play more Football Manager when I woke up. Nice!!
So with coffee close by me lets see what’s been happening down in Devon….
We started October with a smashing 5-2 win away to Barnet which saw Asante get a brace though the centerpiece was a curling effort from 20 yards out by Simon Walton. After enduring a 12 day break due to international fixtures it was inevitably a sluggish performance at Home Park in a 2-1 victory over Bristol Rovers but I was happy with the three points. A long trip away to last place Morecambe saw my youngest first eleven to date take the field, most of them under 20 and they put in a delightful performance with loan signings Mitrovic and Witham getting the goals.
**Click the camera to watch Walton’s goal**
The second half of the month saw Marko Mitrovic slam in an 86th minute winner against Cheltenham from just inside the box to delight the home fans to keep our unbeaten run going. Next up was our top of the table clash against Rotherham. In a gruelling Tuesday night encounter the game was decided by just a single goal from the penalty spot with Simon Walton neatly placing the ball past the Rotherham keeper. That win opened up a four point gap as we stayed at the top of the table. I had to make some changes following that game as we travelled to Wimbledon for the last match of the month. Unfortunately they didn’t pay off and we lost by two goals to one with substitute Asante snatching a late consolation goal.
Right winger Luke Daley sprained his ankle against Wimbledon and will be out for seven weeks.
That defeat didn’t hurt us though in terms of league position and we remained in first place going into November.
As the month closed out two first team members signed professional contracts. Right back Colin Watson and Striker Matt Lecointe. Here are their profiles.
It required a stern half time talk to rescue a point at home to Gillingham as we began our November fixtures. After giving up an easy goal in the 35th minute it was Asante who found us the equalizer just before the hour mark being first to arrive in the box to meet a low cross from the left flank by Jon Meades. Overall it was a pretty horrible team performance.
Following the international break our next game was also at Home Park and was equally as bad as the previous match, if not worse as we experienced our first home defeat of the season in a 1-0 loss to Hereford and not a single shot on target!
Our first round FA Cup tie saw us travel to Huddersfield where the home side took the lead after 18 minutes. To make matters worse we lost Asante through an injury which depleted our firepower up front. A second goal ended our cup hopes but we did stage a late rally with a goal by Matt Lecointe and in the dying minutes Marques hit the bar (naturally) and Durrell Berry missed an open goal.
We ended the month with another disappointing display away to Accrington where once more we came from behind to snatch a draw 14 minutes from time through a header by Curtis Nelson.
So after that terrible run of form we surrendered top spot to title challengers Rotherham giving up a four point lead to now trailing by three points.
Asante is still by far my best player and leads the Super Sevens table once again though I’m happy that I didn’t sell Simon Walton as he’s chipped in with six goals so far. I would however like to see another striker in this group!
Here are the fixtures for the next couple of months with some key games coming up against Crawley and Oxford.
Thanks for taking the time to read this and see you soon.
Darren Smith
6 ноября, 2011 at 12:20
Some good form there Kevin, just a shame to end on a foul note but you’ll recover. Looking at the players morale and the fixture list coming up I’d recommend a team meeting telling the players they’ve done well but are capable or even better….that worked wonders for me. I guess it could be risky but I think that team meeting is what made my second season so great. Anyway, you’re looking good and could hopefully regain top spot so good luck.
Kevin
6 ноября, 2011 at 17:50
Hi Darren
Team meeting is the first thing I’m doing when I load the game next :)
Joelance
6 ноября, 2011 at 13:46
All the best mate
Kevin
6 ноября, 2011 at 17:51
Cheers Joelance
Lye
6 ноября, 2011 at 13:48
Hi Kevin,
October was solid but somehow November was poor due to the injury of Asante and loss of form. I am still confident that you will get promoted, just that you require more effort to win the title. Good luck.
Kevin
6 ноября, 2011 at 17:52
Hey Lye
Asante suddenly couldn’t find the space too shoot or outrun defenders and that hit us hard.
Laxeyman
6 ноября, 2011 at 15:02
Shame that you ended on a bad note Kevin, but overall you’re still in a very good position, as long as Asante keeps scoring. If he doesn’t then you could slide a bit, but hopefully that won’t happen :) December and January will be very important, good luck!
Kevin
6 ноября, 2011 at 17:56
Hi Laxeyman
You are right about the next two months, and hopefully Asante will recover his form. However, i didn’t really expect to be in such a good position based on the players.
They are bottom of League 2 in real life!
Johnny Karp
6 ноября, 2011 at 15:05
Not bad overall but November proved that the squad might be a bit thin and that’s probably why the form dropped. But the quality is still there and I believe that you will bounce back in December and finish the year where you belong: top of the table. Good luck!
Kevin
6 ноября, 2011 at 17:58
Hi Johnny
Yeah, there’s not much flexibility and depth when things start to go wrong and improving the squad situation isn’t an option. The board won’t even discuss finances at all :(
George Dobson
6 ноября, 2011 at 17:13
Well done Kevin good luck for the rest of season
Kevin
6 ноября, 2011 at 17:59
Thanks George. Hopefully the next update will be a bit more positive
vaibhavc
6 ноября, 2011 at 18:17
Wow, that started off well, but just ended hopelessly. As a result, you lost your top spot. I think this requires a team meeting.
Kevin
6 ноября, 2011 at 18:23
Hey vaibhavc
I think you are right mate!
Sears
6 ноября, 2011 at 18:32
That bad run ruined what seemingly was some superb form.I’m sure you’ll bounce back in style, good luck mate!
Kevin
6 ноября, 2011 at 19:00
I know. I thought we were going to pull away and for some reason it went so terribly wrong.
Ana Garcia
6 ноября, 2011 at 18:49
Its not too bad, you have lost top spot but your only losing by the odd goal.
With a few new players to strengthen your squad you should be ready to re-find your earlier form and push for top spot again.
Good luck! :)
Kevin
6 ноября, 2011 at 19:02
Plymouth have absolutely no money and very few players want to come on loan as the club is in a right mess. I only found out after people had voted for them :) In real life they are bottom of League 2 so I’m doing quite well really :)
Ana Garcia
7 ноября, 2011 at 23:08
Ha!
Once again my lack of the English league teams strikes!
You are doing extremely well then to be almost top with what you have told me, shame about having no money but I find it makes the game more enjoyable as you have to strive and work a lot harder than simply spending lots of money every year.
Oh and good luck again! :)
TheZiggy
6 ноября, 2011 at 19:31
Things were looking good until November. That was pretty shocking stuff, especially as you now seem to be struggling to hit the target.
One thing I’ve noticed happening in my game, is that teams are playing a lot more defensive and trying to hit on the counter than they were at the start of the season. I’m also seeing teams really closing us down a lot, and hassling, although they do tend to get tired nearer the end of the match, which can allow gaps to open.
Hope you can pick up again in December, as you’re still in a good place to hopefully achieve promotion, which seemed so unlikely before the start of the season.
Kevin
6 ноября, 2011 at 20:16
Hi Ziggy
Good point that you make. Opposition defences seem to play a lot narrower now that I think about it though their goals seem to come from set pieces of some kind or deflection of my central defenders.
Ryan
6 ноября, 2011 at 19:43
Hi all,
I know this is a seperate subject but I’m getting so frustrated that I needed some advice…..I’m currently being FC Halifax but am struggling to find an Assistant Manager. The team doesn’t start with one so am trawling through the unemployed list and have so far attempted to sign up to 50 AM’s, however, each one automatically refuses to talk to me and the only ones left all have stats of around 5 for the important attributes.
Has anyone endured a similar problem when managing in the BSN/S? Any advice?
Thanks,
Ryan
The FM Ryno
Kevin
6 ноября, 2011 at 20:22
Hi Ryan
I always do a filter by Determination, Motivating and Man Management of around 10 for each, though perhaps nine. It helped get an AM for Plymouth after I fired the original one. I do the same for the other coaches as well or at least I will when the board lets me.
Used the same technique throughout FM 2011 and worked quite nicely. Believe Darren on this site did a posting about DMM so not my idea :)
Ryan
6 ноября, 2011 at 21:03
Thanks Kevin,
I normally filter by Man Management, Judging PA, Judging PP, Motivating and Tactical Knowledge. I think what could also be a problem is that the board is only allowing part-time staff so I can’t choose the option for full-time which some AM’s are wanting. I’ve spent 4 hours searching for one and really wanna get on with the game now but will struggle without a AM.
Ryan
Calin
7 ноября, 2011 at 06:38
Don’t lose hope, Kevin, every team goes through a bad series in the season and probably this was yours. Do a team meeting, tell the lads what you think and I am sure you’ll be back on track — either way, you’re doing really great so keep it up!
Martin Pickard
7 ноября, 2011 at 11:00
Hey Kevin! It started off sooo well but I bet the november results stung a little. But your definitely still in the a chance of promotion and you have many games left and with no other competitions standing in the way, you can concentrate fully on the league :) all the best and looking forward to your next installment :)
Stromson
7 ноября, 2011 at 16:49
Don’t panic! (That’s my advice for this round). ;-)