Hello friends and a Happy New Year to you all. So, it’s 2012 which means a new beginning and a fresh start which the same can be said of my Football Manager Story. Last time we finished up with Plymouth achieving unlikely promotion to the Premier League and so the hard work must start to ensure we are able to stay in the top flight of English football.
June 2014The Liverpool job offer was indeed very tempting but having brought Plymouth this far I wanted to see how much more could be accomplished with them. Our success over the last three seasons and promotion to the Premier League brought in some financial awards as two new kit sponsorship deals added revenue of £1.2 million.
The board announced the initial budget for the upcoming season which was a massive jump from anything I’d seen before and in a way was quite daunting to have so much money.
However, the financial situation wasn’t all happiness as we had to start to make good on our loan repayments now that we had reached the top division. Also it seems we have taken out another very large loan as well?
Although my players have been very loyal those with 3 stars or less in ability and potential may severely lack what is required for the Premier League and most likely will be sold off at the earliest opportunity.
However there were two players that I wanted immediately to stay and put in bids for both Conor Coady and Federico Rodriguez as they had performed well whilst on loan. Both offers were quickly accepted by Liverpool and Bologna resulting in just over £3.0million being spent in an instance.
With the World Cup well and truly underway much of the attention was focused on Brazil though unfortunately I wasn’t able to send any scouts there to view the talent though before the month was over I did bring in two new defenders.
Finances improved dramatically as we received a huge cash deposit from TV Revenue so with the season expectations meeting coming up with the board I was hoping for a nice pot of transfer money.
Well that wasn’t to be and I had no choice really than to say avoid relegation. Some good news out of that meeting was scouting was upgraded to anywhere in the world so I’ll have to bring in additional staff as I only had two scouts and one of those has just retired!
Back in my office I realized I had made a fatal error in terms of the clubs finances. The last three seasons I had taken pride in keeping a balanced budget and had dragged the club out of a very precarious situation. In the last month I had totally neglected this and I was shocked to see the result of my carelessness; almost £15,000 over budget in salaries. Some players would be released as their contracts expired and hopefully that would help the situation. I can’t begin to tell you how annoyed I was at myself.
If I wasn’t already upset by a very stupid mistake then this didn’t help matters either…but not a total surprise, though 5000 is a bit painful to read.
The month started off with more bad news on the financial front as we had plummeted to nearly £6 million into the red. Where had all the TV money gone?
The release of 8 players did help the salary situation which was now £2,000 under the £125,000 threshold.
Players Out:
I made three additional signings in early in the month, two on loan from Dutch clubs and Jake Livermore who had been released by Spurs.
These new intakes had affected the finances once more so I adjusted the budgets to compensate which dramatically increased money available for salaries.
In the Southern Hemisphere the World Cup had come to an end with host nation Brazil going out in the semi –final and their neighbor Uruguay winning the tournament. The dream final of England v Brazil would have to wait another four years.
Back in Devon two more players showed up at Home Park and had travelled some distance to join our “Band of Brothers”. The first was more of a sentimental signing as I wanted to pay respect to Johnny for allowing me to post on this site for almost two years now — so in comes Romanian striker Iosif Baesu from FC Timisoara. Right behind him from the Chinese Super League is Zhoa Xuri.
Plymouth Squad:
Goalkeepers:
Not much change here from last season and the only addition is Ronald Plat from Dundee United who will serve as a back-up.
Loris Karius, Aaron McCarey, Ronald Plat
Full Backs:
Right: Ehsan Zamani, Colin Watson,
Left: Bruno Bertucci, Jetro Williams, Onismor Bhasera
Bruno Bertucci comes by way of Grasshoppers and should be ideal for my left flank tactic with good pace, acceleration and determination. I’m also quite excited by my two Dutch loan players who should push for starting places all season long.
Central Defenders:
William Ekong, Conor Coady, Jamie Richards, Ryan Shotton, Daniel Boateng
I needed to boost my central defence and Shotton by way of Stke City seemed to fit the bill nicely. Some EPL experience and not too expensive either and I may be able to take advantage of that long throw attribute of his. Conor Coady dropped from last season’s midfield position into the back four and was also made the new club captain.
Wingers:
Right: Javi Lopez, IIyas Zeytulaev
Left: Marc Pelosi, Yu Hai
No change from last season
Midfielders:
Ball Winning: Jake Livermore, Zhao Xuri
Box to Box: James Wallace, Jaguare
James Wallace is the only survivor from last season in a revamped central midfield. Zhao Xuri was a bargain at £230,000 and although his work rate is a little low his determination will compensate for that. My most exciting and most expensive signing at £3.2 million is 18 year old Brazilian Jaguare from Flamengo. Surprisingly his flair attribute is remarkably low but more than makes up for it everywhere else. I see him as the key player for our season.
Forwards:
Poachers: Alexander Geynrikh, Sanmi Odelusi, Iosif Baesu
Complete: Kudus Oyenuga, Federico Rodriguez
At just 16 years of age Iosif Baesu seems to have great attributes and even though he is currently injured long term I have high hopes for him once he’s back to full fitness.
Behind the Scenes:
I was able to bring in far more staff due to our Premier League status though was limited by the board to a top salary of around £600.00 per week for most of them. Still we made improvements to our scouting network and have better coverage in mainland Europe and South America.
The board has always been very reluctant to improve our training facilities from day one so I haven’t bothered investing in youth players to develop and this season is no different.
I did bring in a handful of new coaches under the same financial restrictions as the scouts though overall our training abilities have increased a little.
Results:
Everything was looking really good until we faced Liverpool and although we only lost by a single goal we were totally outplayed by them and much the same can be said about our final warm up game against Mainz.
Fixtures:
A tricky opening day game away to Everton to start the season off and I’m confident that we may be able to pick up some points before facing Man City.
So the pre-season update is done and thanks for taking the time to read it. Enjoy the new year break and all the best for 2012.
John Martin
1 января, 2012 at 12:41
Hi mate. Im a new to fms however im up to date with this fantastic save. You have bought some great young talent and with some luck mid table could be possible.
Kevin
1 января, 2012 at 19:42
Hello John
Greetings from Toronto, Canada and thanks very much for leaving a comment. I’m delighted that you have been following along and enjoying this story. Hopefully the EPL adventure for Plymouth will be as equally entertaining for you.
Malhar Bhadbhade
1 января, 2012 at 13:33
hey Kevin,
sorry for not commenting on some of your previous stories, but I assure you that i have been following them. don’t worry too much about the finances, i think staying in the epl this season should ease much of the worry related to that. best of luck, cant wait for the start of the season!
Kevin
1 января, 2012 at 19:45
Hello Malhar
No worries about not leaving a comment previously; I’m happy that you did this time! Finances are part of my real world job so I can’t help but watch them and I’ll try and have another update ASAP. But it’s back to work soon after being on vacation.
Johnny Karp
1 января, 2012 at 13:43
That was a hectic summer Kevin with lots of numbers moving from red to black and back to red. I have to say that the Romanian striker has definitely caught my attention, that lad could become a household name in England and not only! Best of luck for the season!
Kevin
1 января, 2012 at 19:47
Hi Johnny
That budget was bouncing around all over the place, very hard to keep track of. Glad you like your fellow countryman as I was determined to work a Romanian into this latest FMS.
FM Blogger
1 января, 2012 at 13:48
I believe that you will most certaintly remain at the EPL and maybe achieve a mid table position. The finances do not look great and this makes me quite curious because we are talking about you, probably the best FM manager in terms of finances. But I am sure that you will bring stability again.
I have one question, though. Am I the only one who’s having a really hard time with FM 2012? In the past versions of the game I was content with my performance but in this FM I am completely rubbish, my tactics are woeful, my transfers are mediocre and I can’t enjoy the game anymore. Does anybody have any advise or something?
Good luck with the rest of the season. Make Plymouth a european powerhouse!!!
Kevin
1 января, 2012 at 20:05
FM Blogger: Wow!
Thanks very much for the very kind compliment about my financial skills and you are right my actions were unusual for me.
As for your question I can totally relate as I had trouble myself in previous versions. I’m not sure what team or tactic you are using but here’s my advice for what I it is worth KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid. Now, that’s not to say you are stupid, far from it, I’m just saying that’s my philosophy, use it at work, home and in FM.
Basic 442, balanced/standard set up and play to the players strengths. I did this in FM2011 by printing out the attacking attributes of the players, circling their highest ones and building the tactic from there. It is how I came up with my left flank tactic.
Having said all that, I do take ideas from Darren and Johnny’s tactics and sort of blend them into mine without straying away from KISS. Example Darrens Arsenal tactic would be no good for Plymouth but his Stoke City one mirrors in part my Plymouth set up so I studied his and then tweaked my own.
I hope this make sense to you as I don’t consider myself that good at the game.
FM Blogger
4 января, 2012 at 21:11
Thanks a lot, I think that I will be trying your «KISS» method for a while.
TheZiggy
1 января, 2012 at 16:48
You’ve made some good signings to strengthen the squad, so I believe you’ll stay in the EPL. One thing you’ve forgotten about the TV money, is that it is given to you throughout the course of the year, and not as one lump sum. The loan is a bit surprising, but once you’re up and running, I don’t think it’ll be a big issue.
Have to say I was bit surprised that you only had two scouts. With Torquay in League One, I have 3. Your training overview also makes me feel very warm and fuzzy about the levels I already have, with the highest staff wage of £525. There must be something you’re missing out on here, because apart from tactics my ratings are the same or higher, and my tactics is 3.5 stars. I’m not sure if you’re unlucky with the coaches available in your game, or there’s a little lack of knowledge on what makes a coach good in the different training areas.
Kevin
1 января, 2012 at 20:14
Hi Ziggy
Glad you like the signings. As for the TV money I thought about how it was received after I posted and you of course are spot on. The board would only let me have one scout for the longest time so now I have four. As for the coaches, probably a combination of game and knowledge plays a factor. I usually search by Determination, Motivation and Discipline levels and then see the best I can get with the other coaching attributes. I think that DMD search is right…I read it somewhere I’m sure!
TheZiggy
2 января, 2012 at 13:26
I guess the Torquay board are more adventurous than I thought, because they have allowed me 3 scouts in League One, and a crazy number of coaches.
I used to search for coaches by looking at the DMD first, which works brilliantly when your board doesn’t put many restrictions in your way. However I’ve changed to the other way around with Torquay. I first look for someone who has the attributes for whichever category I want, and then try to work out who has the best combination of DMD, who is affordable. It’s a bit more work, but it has been worth taking the extra time and effort.
If you search based on high DMD first, you tend find coaches that are asking for too much money. When your board is quite restrictive, you have to compromise. To give an example, I have a coach who gives 3.5 stars in Attacking training, but only had DMD of 12, 10 and 6, on £525 pw. I have a scientific research background, so this just felt natural to me, to turn the problem on its head.
Kevin
4 января, 2012 at 00:00
Hi Ziggy
Many thanks for the alternate search profile. I’ll give it a go next time I’m looking for coaches.
Darren Smith
1 января, 2012 at 18:32
Well that was a rather stressful pre-season mate, the finances are a worry but its always tough when you first go up to the top flight as the squad needs a lot more investment. I used to think the TV revenue was received in one hit but that actually isn’t the case. The EPL TV revenue is in fact given in monthly installments, if you check your income monthly then you’ll notice the appropriate amount been received. So don’t worry mate, you haven’t spent all the cash already :) Good luck for the coming season, I honestly can’t wait to see what happens, survival is paramount and I believe you will do it.
Kevin
1 января, 2012 at 20:17
Hi Darren
I had second thoughts about my TV money comment after I posted so thanks for putting that right for me. To be honest I have a lot of anxiety over the coming season especially as I have a few new commentators joining the story. I hope I can keep Plymouth up!
Laxeyman
1 января, 2012 at 19:30
Loads of activity Kevin, but you’ve strengthened well given the limited finances, and I reckon you’ll have enough quality to stay up relatively comfortably :) Good luck!
Kevin
1 января, 2012 at 20:19
Cheers Laxeyman
I’m glad you like my new arrivals and I appreciate your confidence in me!
Lye
2 января, 2012 at 01:18
Hi Kevin,
Definitely not good news when the initial transfer funds fell from 12 million to 3 million plus. I see you have put in all efforts to make use of the money well and brought in some decent players. The debut season of top flight can be a tough one. I see that if your players can settle down early and gain good results before the Man City game, you will be able to survive. Good luck.
Kevin
2 января, 2012 at 09:54
Hello Lye
That change in revenue was quite a shock but I’m happy with those players I’ve be able to bring to Devon. I’m a bit anxious at clicking continue at this point :(
CsAtlantis
2 января, 2012 at 01:53
Kevin, you have to be patient for the TV money, it is given throughout the season and not in one lump sum, and you get some extra if a match you are involved in is picked for television coverage
You’ve done well with your limited budget (12 million is a lot but your wage budget is pretty small so you also needed to boost it), if possible maybe just put all the transfer money into wage budget and focus on getting one or two free transfers in, maybe a veteran released from his club could join
Good luck for the next season, some interesting signings there (I believe that Jetro Williams has been linked to Man Utd as a potential right back prospect…….)
Kevin
2 января, 2012 at 09:57
Hi CSAtlantis
After I made the post I realised that the TV money is spread out. The board haven’t given me much to work with, typical really, which is why I brought in those two Dutch players. There is a former Blackbunr player available – Yakuba but I’m not 100 % sure about signing him.
vaibhavc
2 января, 2012 at 06:40
What does your club do with the money? Even with that, you are still doing pretty bad in finances. Jaguare is looks like he is going to be a key player for you, and Iosif Baesu can turn into something great.
Kevin
2 января, 2012 at 10:01
Hey vaibhavc
Who knows where the money goes – I think I will always struggle financially with this team ,it’s embedded in the game!
I’m happy you pointed out Jaguare as I thought he was an excellent addition to the squad but none of the other comments mentioned him, so thanks!
Woody
2 января, 2012 at 12:04
i’ve just found this website and read this story all the way through
its a great achivement and congratulations youve formed quite a good team
hopefully youll get some good results and stay solid at home
anyway good luck and im looking forward to the next update
Kevin
5 января, 2012 at 00:20
Hi Woody
Greetings from Canada and thanks very much for your comment. I’m delighted on how we’ve progressed so far and hopefully I can porduce an enjoyable story for you in the future.
Martin - F.M.J.S
2 января, 2012 at 12:05
Hi Kevin
Some hard time there in Pre season and money isn’t great but I think a few more season in the top flight and bring the club forward like you have already have, I’m sure the finances will improve. Good luck with rest of the season mate.
Kevin
5 января, 2012 at 00:21
Thanks Martin
It’s been a bit of a struggle and I don’t see the situation improving at least in the short term.
Sears
2 января, 2012 at 17:05
I must say; that Brazilian kid in central midfield and the Romanian striker will become brilliant players for you. You made some terrific signings, despite the financial worries. However, a season or two in the PL will see you improve your finances massively. Well done mate, top work again!
Kevin
5 января, 2012 at 00:24
Hi Sears
Thanks for commenting on my Brazilian kid. Finally someone noticed :)
Hopefully we can survive this season and cash in on some of the EPL benefits.
David Wornham
5 января, 2012 at 04:23
Happy New Year Kevin. Love your updates and just wanted to say thanks as they are such a great read. You inspire me to want to play the game more.
Best of luck in the Premier League and can»t wait for your next update.
PS — What leagues do you have running in the background now?