Hello everyone and welcome back to the South West coast of England and the beginning of my Plymouth Argyle story. In the first post of this FM2012 story I did a brief introduction to the team so let’s take a closer look at what happened from day one through to the beginning of the season.
Game Time: July 5th 2011
The first thing I looked at was my backroom staff and to be honest I didn’t have much faith in the (regen) Assistant Manager and a couple of the coaches. To that effect Waistle, Backhouse and James all left the club.
For those of you who remember from the opening post Plymouth basically have no money so after firing my AM I looked over the list of players available for loan and made some early offers. Setting out the season expectations was easy and I went with mid table finish as all the choices offered the same package.
To start off I’ll be using my old Wrexham “left flank tactic” which is now being called Plymouth 1.0 and actually did pretty good in the demo. It’s a basic 4-4-2 with obviously the attacking focus down the left flank and using the default player roles. . Additionally I set up the training (using the default Conditioning for now) and introduced players and staff to my tactic.
Finally I changed some of the friendlies that had been organized in hopes of raising some capital by bringing in foreign sides and I quickly found out (which Stromson reported) you can’t do that anymore though I did manage to get Falkirk and Scunthorpe!
Game Time: July 6th 2011
Day two saw the arrival of new Assistant Manager Paul Groves whose DMM attributes are all very good and as I have a fairly young team he’s an ideal choice for working with them.
The Team Report which was provided quickly identified that we needed some help up front as well as a couple of defenders and a winger too. I already have a player on loan at the club which leaves just three season long spots to utilize.
Game Time: July 8th to 11th
None of my “day one” loan offers came to fruition as they simply didn’t want to drop down several leagues even with the chance to play first team football. However I did sign the following players during the first week.
To begin with is John Meades who can play on either wing and deputise as left back if needed so quite a versatile player.
In the middle of the park I picked up young midfielder Kaby from Chelsea who I imagine will play in the box to box role.
Up front I was very happy that Birmingham reserve striker Akwasi Assante agreed to join us and we will definitely make the most of his pace and good finishing attributes.
**** I did use the Team Meeting feature – forgetting of course to take screen shots but it did move morale from abysmal to poor for a lot of the players. Nice! ****
Game Time: July 12th to 14th
Our opening pre-season game saw a confident performance as we beat Truro City 3-0 away from home and then the following day news broke about take-over talks and the board quickly initiated a transfer embargo.
Two days later Plymouth ended up with a new Chairman – the embargo lifted but no additional money. Boo!
The end of the second week in charge saw us earn a respectable 1-1 draw at home to Falkirk but the following Wednesday revealed a weakness in the back four as we crashed at home to Oxford by a result of 4-3.
Game Time: July 17th to 19th 2011
Midweek saw the arrival of 33 year old central defender Rui Marques to Home Park on a free and although he doesn’t have the pace anymore he certainly makes up for that in experience and should be a commanding presence at the back. We also signed striker Mark Leech as well and I was surprised that the board would even approve either of their salaries but I’m happy they did.
Several Youth Team players signed full time contracts as “hot prospects” and will be most likely needed at some point during the season and performed reasonably well in a 0-0 draw with Scunthorpe in our penultimate pre-season game.
Game Time: August 1st 2011
With the opening game of the season just 5 days away The Board cynically reminded me what financial trouble we were in with a note about monthly loan payments that were due to start.
Thankfully that didn’t affect my pre-season plans as the following day we hammered Bath City 3-0 at home to complete our pre-season friendlies.
Pre-Season Results:
Transfer Summary (as of August 5th)
This represents probably my quietest transfer window ever!
Here then is my squad for the season divided up in roughly defensive and attacking duties. Most of the team at least according to my assistant has bags of potential.
Defending:
Attacking:
We will start off the new season away to Dagenham followed by a trip to Orient in the League Cup. Our home opener will see Aldershot visit Home Park.
Well that’s it ship-mates for this update and I’m looking forward to getting the regular season started and seeing how we progress with limited resources. I’m not sure if I’ll keep up the nautical references in my update titles but as Plymouth has major Royal Navy links I couldn’t resist this time around.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to your feedback.
Edward Wylie
26 октября, 2011 at 11:07
Hi Kevin, good luck at Plymouth. Mark Leech is an incredible player, I played him as a central midfielder with an attack option. 27 goals and 12 assists in the conference and 19 goals with 15 assists in league 2 with Tamworth. Although it wouldn’t fit in with your tactic, just a though if you’re losing and your box to box midfielder isn’t performing bring him on in centre mid. The scout might say his best position is as a striker but it certainly is as a centre mid.
Kevin
26 октября, 2011 at 12:38
Hi Edward
Greetings from Canada and thanks for your comment. I hadn’t considered Leech in a midfield role so that is very interesting indeed.
Laxeyman
26 октября, 2011 at 11:08
Some good players brought in there Kevin, and by the looks of it you’ve got a young squad with massive potential to get better and better :) Hopefully they can take you to the play offs at least this season, good luck!
Kevin
26 октября, 2011 at 12:39
Hi Laxeyman
Really suprised when I did that team report so I’m hoping to get the best out of these players and keep them for some time to come
Johnny Karp
26 октября, 2011 at 11:46
The transfer window was quiet indeed but you did manage to bring in some good players. It’s a shame that the new chairman didn’t at least keep his promise to wipe out the club debt… Anyway, the friendly results were good, the squad looks strong, so good luck for the season!
Kevin
26 октября, 2011 at 12:42
Hi Johnny
I was hoping too for some well needed cash when that message came up about a new chairman so it looks like I’ll have to be successful on the field to wipe out those debts!
Darren Smith
26 октября, 2011 at 11:56
That was a good transfer window Kevin and your new players look strong. Hopefully the new board will settle and eventually pump some money in.
Kevin
26 октября, 2011 at 12:44
Hi Darren
Yes, I was quite pleased with the way things went over the summer and I think I have a pretty good squad for the season ahead.
Sibo
26 октября, 2011 at 12:16
Good transfers and a good pre-season there Kevin, if you haven’t advanced too far can I recommend a few players to have a gander at?
If you can afford their wages and they want to come I recommend:
Steven Thicot D/MC
Cameron Smith ST, on loan from Aberdeen
Jamil Adam ST
The last one I have seen on a Plymouth story on sortitoutsi, and I have brought him and Thicot for Montrose, both of them are ripping it up, also Cameron Smith is a quality player to loan, even as a back-up player.
Good luck for the season, hopefully you can make the playoffs and bounce back up! :D
Kevin
26 октября, 2011 at 12:48
Hi Sibo!!
Thanks very much for the player suggestions and I’m only just started August so it’s worth a review. Of course the board may not part with any money for these guys but maybe I can get Smith on a three month loan?
nielsneutron
26 октября, 2011 at 12:32
Good choice in the mid table finish as you don’t need the added pressure. Rui Marques look likes an excellent player. The preseason look decent but not overly impressive. Lets hope you can step it up and perform. If I were you I would field my best team in the cups in order to get some price money.
Kevin
26 октября, 2011 at 12:56
Thanks for the comment. Marques was at Leeds for a while so has plenty of Lower League experience. Good point about cup competitions though I may not do that for the JPT has I don’t like that competition at all!
joycey360
26 октября, 2011 at 12:49
I had Kaby on loan and was a quality player when I got the chance to use him, he was injured for a little while on my game and I only had him on a 3 month loan and it was a real shame.
Anyway good luck with Plymouth hope you turn them around as they are doing awful on my game!
Am currently managing Burton Albion in League 2, wish me luck!
http://burtonalbionfootballmanager.blogspot.com/
Kevin
26 октября, 2011 at 19:43
Hey Joycey360
Greetings from Canada and thanks for the comment. Good to know about Kaby and best of luck with Burton Albion.Thanks for the link as well.
TheZiggy
26 октября, 2011 at 13:57
You’ve pretty much taken the same attitude to the expectations as I did. No point adding extra pressure when there’s little or no gain from saying you can achieve more.
Spending in League 2 is very low. With Torquay, I spent a massive £300, and I’m 3rd highest on the list of money spenders. :D
Despite the small number of transfers, it looks like you should at least achieve your target, if not better. Good luck.
Kevin
26 октября, 2011 at 19:45
Hi Ziggy
Yeah, I didn’t think it was worth saying I’d challenge for promotion when the squad has such poor morale and the club has no money. I’ll be happy with mid table as I’m hoping to build a foundation at least this season for promotion next year.
Lye
26 октября, 2011 at 15:32
Hi Kevin,
Nice to see you starting working your way in Plymouth. The transfer is a bit quiet but those are useful additions. I have a feeling you will be finishing higher than mid-finish. It’s always tough to play in the lower league because there aren’t too much money to work with. Overall i have high hope for you and the team and wish you well in League 2.
Kevin
26 октября, 2011 at 21:20
Hey Lye!
Thanks for the very positive feedback. I’m quite excited by this new challenge and hopefully live up to your prediction!
vaibhavc
26 октября, 2011 at 16:27
Hey Kevin
The transfer budget didn’t help at all, but you still managed to find some pretty good buys for you. Your strikers were not good before, but after your signings, I know that that problem is solved.
Kevin
26 октября, 2011 at 21:25
Hey vaibhavc
Pretty stingy with the money but I’m happy with those players I got. As for Asante and Leech they should both do quite well I feel.
Nicholas Phipps
26 октября, 2011 at 16:36
You made some nice signings despite the board restrictions and hopefully the new takeover can provide a bit more income down the road. On a side note David Sheepshanks always seems to takeover a financially struggling club in the game :)
Kevin
27 октября, 2011 at 00:15
Hi there Nicholas
Yeah, I’m pretty pleased with the players acquired. I didn’t know that about Sheepshanks :)
Gavin Scotney
27 октября, 2011 at 16:03
Looks like you will have a good season I would recommend damain casalinuovo if your struggling for goals he’s a free transfer but his wages may set you back a bit. Good luck and I look forward to the next update
Kevin
28 октября, 2011 at 00:52
Hi Gavin
Greetings from Toronto, Canada and thanks very much for leaving a comment. I appreciate the player tip but unfortunately he’s not in my game..yet? Please feel free to comment anytime!
Stromson
27 октября, 2011 at 17:10
And it begins! Good luck Kevin, can’t wait to see your results.
Kevin
28 октября, 2011 at 00:52
Cheers Stromson and good luck in your game too!
Sears
29 октября, 2011 at 13:50
Really hope you do well with Plymouth Kevin, best of luck!