*waves*
Two nights ago, at approximately 6:45 Eastern Daylight Time, Steam began unlocking the Football Manager 2012 files on my computer. Shortly thereafter, the Afan Lido save was born! Melodramatic? Absolutely. Exciting? I was bouncing around like Tigger half the night, so we’ll go ahead and say yes. After spending about thirty minutes exploring the new interface (I spent hardly any time on the demo), I set about improving The Lido squad. This was no small task, and I wasn’t given much to work with:
Not exactly a war chest, but we’ll have to make due with what we have, and rely on free transfers and loans. Rather than report all of my transfer activity each season (as that’ll get downright tedious as the years go by), I’ll post up my key signings at the beginning of each season, and then my star players at each season’s conclusion. This should cut down on clutter, and prevent me from going insane cropping a million and a half player profile pages.
Our goal for this first season is going to be simple: Survive. The media predicts us to finish dead last in the league, and we’re going to have to work our tails off to stay up (lest this quest come to a quick conclusion). I have no illusions of grandure, no expectations for a surprise league win or deep cup run. This team is awful, and staying above the relegation zone (11th and 12th) will be an accomplishment. Pessimistic? Perhaps, but I prefer to prepare myself for the worst!
So what then, shall be my plan for survival? To take a page from the fabled book of Mike Bassett, we’ll be playing a flat, rigid, Four-Four-Two. No gimmicks, no shenanigans, no fancy footwork. We lack the talent for anything beyond the basics, and those basics are my key to international success!
Of course, things haven’t exactly gotten off to a flier. Within three games, my injuries have already started to pile up:
All three of those players are in the starting eleven, and I have to further backup players that have managed to find their way to the injury list. So far nothing has gone beyond Mark Jones’ 7 weeks, so I’m hopefully we can stay relatively healthy from here on out.
Finally, in light of Afan Lido’s predicted finish, should I fail to ensure the teams survival, this save will not end. It’ll simply turn into a journeyman save, and I’ll load up a few extra leagues and go wherever he wind shall take me. If I land a job in Wales, I’ll still go for the Champion’s League goal, and if not, well, we’ll see! :)
That’s all for this time out, I’ll be back with a full-length post at the end of the season, and if time permits, will toss up a video or two in between!
Laxeyman
22 октября, 2011 at 17:03
Looks like a tough job on your hands Stromo, the board have given you almost nothing, but hopefully you can work round that :) Good luck and up the Lido!
Stromson
22 октября, 2011 at 18:33
It just got even tougher…you can’t schedule exotic friendlies anymore. :( Board won’t allow the team to travel that far. That’s going to make money a whole lot larger of an issue.
TheZiggy
22 октября, 2011 at 17:08
Sadly with a team of Afan Lido’s quality, injuries are going to be one of the defining factors in how well you can do. It also seems, that the lower down the football hierarchy you go, the more likely players are to pick up niggles and injuries.
Really hope you can achieve survival, and good luck. I think the decision to go with a rigid 4-4-2 has got to be the right way to set yourself up.
Stromson
22 октября, 2011 at 18:32
Between the sub-par facilities and lesser attributes, I’d say you’re probably right about the injuries. 4-4-2 is the way to go!
Kevin
22 октября, 2011 at 17:17
Hi Stromson
So you got the game Thursday as well then? Lucky us on this side of the Atlantic :)
Good luck with Afan Lido, I’m sure it will be an entertaining journey for us readers and I hope you do well.
Stromson
22 октября, 2011 at 18:30
Sure did, Steam is a wonderful thing. :-)
Jack
22 октября, 2011 at 17:41
Hey Stromson,
I think you’ll easily achieve survival, the Welsh league is terrible and anyone can pretty much beat anyone. I played a few seasons with Aberystwyth on FM10 and won the league in my first season, granted Afan Lido are probably weaker, but a few signings from the Irish league and changing the status of your player’s contracts to professional will make a huge difference. Good luck!
Stromson
22 октября, 2011 at 18:31
Thanks for the encouragement, but I’ve now learned the hard way that part-time teams are no longer allowed to sign players to full time contracts. :( It’s a pretty crushing blow to my progression hopes.
Darren Smith
22 октября, 2011 at 19:14
Hey Stromson, I know injuries can be a huge problem at this level…but you will survive the dreaded drop I’m sure. I hope so as it would be a shame to see you change the challenge from making Wales great to a Journeyman challenge…this is a mammoth task and one I’d love to see you do.
paine
22 октября, 2011 at 19:22
4-4-2 is the way to go at that level as you said, lack of depth could be your main issue this year.
A lighter training regime would be a good choice in my opinion.
Good luck.
Johnny Karp
22 октября, 2011 at 21:16
This is one hell of a challenge mate, extremely difficult. I think that you have to be prepared for the thought that you might not make it, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun in the process! Best of luck mate!
Stromson
23 октября, 2011 at 01:28
The idea has crossed my mind, but I’m not willing to admit defeat anytime soon!
Calin
23 октября, 2011 at 08:24
A really nice challenge there and yes, it’s so bad that the board doesn’t allow exotic friendlies anymore, they were my (and probably not just mine) biggest source for extra income in FM 2011. However, you can try to set up some games at home, you’ll still see some nice earnings, even though not as impressive as in the past.
Good luck with your challenge, though!
CsAtlantis
23 октября, 2011 at 09:27
Well there is a couple of thousand quid in your wage budget, so I suppose you could pickup a few, and hopefully you can find a good parent club to give you some more support, though what you can do with that 1k transfer budget I have no idea (it’ll probably add a couple of dozen to the wage budget i suppose :P)
You seem to be doing fine, you won the Llanelli match after all! Good luck
Sears
23 октября, 2011 at 21:11
I guess until you qualify for the EL or Cl you’ll have to rely on freebies or loan’s. However, I reckon you’ll win the Cl, may just take a while though :P
vaibhavc
24 октября, 2011 at 04:30
Ah, that makes me understand that old video now! Make sure you don’t give up though. It will be frustrating but fun. I am looking forward to your updates to come.