Devotion to Promotion [A Football Manager 2020 Career]

Sounds great zilla ,I've never really gotten into playing FM but these writeups are really enjoyable. Just need to listen to the show now, to see which how your tactics are coming along.

After listening to your issues last year with tactics suddenly falling to pieces after roughly 10 games using them, I wonder if they have done the same thing with the game this year. As I don't/haven't played the game much, how hard is it to teach you team new tactics, and how many different tactical setups can your team know/play well in?

Zaque wrote:

Sounds great zilla ,I've never really gotten into playing FM but these writeups are really enjoyable. Just need to listen to the show now, to see which how your tactics are coming along.

After listening to your issues last year with tactics suddenly falling to pieces after roughly 10 games using them, I wonder if they have done the same thing with the game this year. As I don't/haven't played the game much, how hard is it to teach you team new tactics, and how many different tactical setups can your team know/play well in?

Thanks!

I'd consider my knowledge of tactics and how they work in they work in the game to be mediocre at best, but I think it's accepted knowledge that the AI shifts to counter your tactics after a certain amount of time, be it games or wins or some other metric of success.

You have three tactical "slots" in the tactics screen that your team can be working on at the moment, and one is designated as your prime tactic. How fast your team learns a new tactic depends on tons of things, like coaching quality, how much you focus on tactics in practice, how different it is from your existing tactics, how often you use it in a match, player ability, etc. At the lower level it feels like it takes a couple of months on average to go from "not good at this" to "functional".

In our current season, we started with a lot of players who are unfamiliar with our general tactics, so I've really only got the balanced 4-4-2 working well. We're passably okay at a more defensive 4-4-2. I don't even remember what our third tactic is offhand, but I do know we're really bad at it because we just haven't used it since early in the season.

Lots of players have long win streaks with the game, and the best season I had with FM19 involved a team that was good at two formations by their second season, so I suspect that at a certain point I'll need to focus on a second and possibly third tactic, to get that rock-paper-scissors dynamic in play that makes it hard for other teams to plan for us.

Club
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Season 1: December 2020
Playoffs?!?

Record: 10W-8D-9L, 38 points (10th place in Vanarama National North)

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In a light month of activity, we continue to defy the odds makers and slowly rise up the table. We only have two league matches. Chez Isaac, our newly acquired midfielder, blasts a 92nd-minute rocket into the top right corner to salvage a 1-1 draw against FC United, and we end the month with a solid 2-0 win over Needham Market. In between those matches we pick up an FA Trophy Cup win over Braintree to advance to the second round.

I’m still amazed at how well this team is playing. One third of the way through the season we were in 23rd place. We are now in 10th place and potentially chasing a playoff spot. A big reason, for sure, has been the additions of striker Harry Williams and central midfielder Chez Isaac. Williams has been a scoring beast that gives us multiple weapons up top. He can combine with our other striker Luke Benbow, and our attacking midfielder Rafferty Pedder has more targets to feed. Similarly, Chez Isaac has been a big upgrade in central midfield. The guy plays like his hair is on fire. He’s everywhere at once and creates so many problems for other teams to solve. It’s no coincidence that our good run of form started with their insertion into the starting eleven.

January will be a huge test. We’ve had some matches cancelled in December due to bad field conditions, and those rematches have fallen in early January, giving us a packed schedule again, with some tough opponents throughout. We’ll need all our team depth to keep the run going.

To get ahead:
January Video is up.

You're good at that talking video thing with a perfect voice for it. Props for putting in the effort.

garion333 wrote:

You're good at that talking video thing with a perfect voice for it. Props for putting in the effort.

Thanks much for the kind words! That's encouraging feedback.

Making the videos has been a ton of fun. As much fun as it is, though, sometimes in the beginning when the viewership is super small I find myself doubting myself and thinking I should stop. So it's helpful to hear that. I feel like I've learned a lot in the month I've been making them, and hope to keep having fun and getting better at it.

Club
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Season 1: January 2021
Riding the Edge of the Playoff Zone

Record: 15W-9D-10L, 54 points (7th place in Vanarama National North)

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A packed January schedule is made even tougher to navigate thanks to a couple of key injuries, but we make it through the month with 4 wins, 2 draws, and 1 loss in league play. The play lifts us three spots in the standings, and we end the month in 7th place, the last playoff spot.

A lot of our results come from late heroics, goals in the 80th minute or later kind of stuff. For whatever reason, this team just doesn’t seem to give up. It’s been fun watching them play. Our only league loss of the month comes against first place Boston United, who also beat us earlier in the month in FA Trophy Cup play. 3 matches against Boston this year and 3 losses. We just don’t have quite enough to take on the top team … yet.

12 matches left and we suddenly find ourselves in a playoff battle instead of a relegation battle. Considering we were in 21st place after 18 matches, I’m certainly thrilled with how things have gone. The playoffs would be gravy on a good season, but now that we’ve got hold of 7th place, I’d like to keep hold of it and finish the deal.

Four matches coming up in February, each and every one of them important for reaching the playoffs! Go Yellow Pokemon Bears!

February Video is up.

Club
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Season 1: February 2021
Slipping, but not Sliding

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We start the month by extracting revenge for our Boston United defeat on King’s Lynn Town, pasting them 3-0. A close 2-1 win against Altrincham follows, but our results tail off at the end of the mont. We draw to 22nd-place Blyth, then lose at home to mid-table Spennymoor.

Fortunately, the teams around us in the standings fare no better, and we end the month still lodged in 7th place, 6 points up on 8th place Gateshead, and 2 points back of 6th place Darlington.

It’d be nice to make the playoffs, for sure, but in all honesty I don’t think we’re ready to make the jump to the National League. We started pretty much from scratch building a team this year, and we’ve got little to no talent that is ready for another promotion. Of course we’ll take on the challenge if we go up, but I think another year to bring in a few more strong players wouldn’t hurt at all.

But eight matches to go and we’re right in the thick of things! Onward!

March Video is up.

Club
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Season 1: March 2021
Let’s All Be Mediocre

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Another month of mixed results. We net three draws and a strong win against Hartlepool, but it’s clear the magic has faded. Losing our Left Back to a month-long injury and Chez Isaac, our best midfielder, to a 3-match ban hasn’t helped either.

Fortunately, everyone around us struggles as well. With four matches to go, we find ourselves on the cusp of securing a playoff spot. We’ve just got to seal the deal.

For more details and an advanced look at next month:
April Video is up.

Club
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Season 1: April 2021
Playoffs!

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Manager's Notes

With the continued help of the faltering 8th and 9th place teams and a huge 5-1 win over Southport, we lock up 7th place with two matches to spare! On the whole, we play like Jekyll & Hyde during the month, with two disappointing losses and two inspiring wins.

We’ll face Darlington on the road for our first playoff matchup. We’ll need to win three road matches to gain promotion. A tall order for sure, and our road performance hasn’t been strong.

First Playoff Video is up.

Club
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Season 1: May 2021
Playoffs vs. Darlington

Darlington controls the first third of the match, outshoots us, and goes up 1-0 just before 30 minutes. We shift our tactics and things balance out a bit, but our offense just cannot find a way. We have a disappointing lack of chances and fall 1-0. Our first season is done.

On the whole, however, we have to be thrilled with the first season. We were in 21st place after 18 matches, then cranked it up and roared up the standings for the middle third of the season. Securing 7th place in our first season feels like a solid foundation to build from.

I'm really looking forward to next season, time to get busy rebuilding!

Season Wrap Video is up.

I really liked the season wrap up. It shows me a lot more of what the game lets/makes you do which is nice for someone who has play some version of it for maybe an hour (I think 2012). Can't wait to see how your next season goes.

Playoffs!

That's a great first season. Hope you're able to improve your squad in he summer and challenge for promotion next season.

Roke wrote:

Playoffs!

That's a great first season. Hope you're able to improve your squad in he summer and challenge for promotion next season.

He better after the boss changed the Team goal. And it certainly sounded like he improved the squad. I really love how upbeat you are everything Zilla, as you seem to always find the best positive spin on whatever is happening.

I also thought that introduction to season 2 was hilarious, and very well done.

Thanks much guys! I'm glad it's enjoyable. It's been a fun career to play and I'm enjoying making the content too.

And yeah, I'm a bit concerned about this chairman. He's seems to be pretty ambitious and maybe not that patient. That's a bad combination that makes me think I'll be unemployed if we don't get hot from the start.

I'm really excited for the upcoming season, though. I hope to dig in this evening, get through the pre-season and first match and create the next video.

Club
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Season 1 Summary 2020-21
Season Review | Table | Manager Profile

Season Notes
Nuneaton Town were slated for relegation as a newly promoted team, but had a handful of decent players on the team and over £4k in wage room. Nevertheless, we started out the season horribly and sat in 21st place after 18 matches. But our reinforcements started clicking and led us on a long charge through the middle of the season that saw us rise to 7th place. We hung on to that playoff spot for the back third of the season, but got eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. We’ll be back next year!

Career Overview
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Season 2 Preview Video

Club
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Season 2: Summer Preseason 2021
Leveling Up?

Onward to Season 2!

We have a busy three months spanning from early May until the end of July. Our hopes are to accomplish two main goals: retaining the half dozen or so players we want to bring back, and replacing our expensive unproductive players with better ones. For the most part, I feel like we accomplish both of our goals.

Most of the players we wanted to bring back were demanding exorbitant wages early in May. We held out until Mid-June and as the new season dawned their demands lessened. We end up bringing back everyone we hoped to get back.

That still leaves us with a lot of holes, and we spend a lot of time bringing in outside backs, center backs, and wings. We get notice that our team has risen in reputation, which I think is helping us attract some better players than we were able to get last year. Over the course of a couple of months our team comes together with some promising signings. As we head to the start of the season, the media predicts a second-place finish. I do feel like we have the ingredients to make something good, but getting results out of this will be our next challenge…

Season 2 Opening Day Episode is Up

Enjoyed your opening day video for season 2, Zilla. Strangely enough, the view out of the back of the room you opened in looks quite like the view out of my back window (checks around for signs of occupation...)

davet010 wrote:

Enjoyed your opening day video for season 2, Zilla. Strangely enough, the view out of the back of the room you opened in looks quite like the view out of my back window (checks around for signs of occupation...)

Thanks much, it was fun to do! And thanks for letting me use your flat when you're not home.

Club
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/8cNiwIb.png)

Season 2: August 2021
Rolling


Record: 8W-1D-1L, 25 points (2nd place in Vanarama National North)

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The season starts with a shocker of an off-field announcement: The team is up for sale and board takeover is underway. I respond by spending the rest of my wage budget in case an embargo is imposed while the sale goes through.

On the field, things start out marvelously well. Our new signings look to be the real deal, and they blend well with the better players we kept from last year. We are thundering over opponents. By the end of the month we’ve piled up 8 wins against 1 loss and 1 draw.

You’d think that this sort of performance would see us sitting well atop the National North, but we have a problem. South Shields, a professional club with tons of resources, got promoted to our league for this season, and they look invincible. They have yet to lose, and have a single draw to their record so far. I’m not sure how we can compete with them, but we’ll give it our best.

It’s very early to be drawing conclusions as to how the season will end, but at the moment I feel like we can’t afford to drop any points if we’re going to have a chance, and it certainly puts a lot of weight on each match. Fun times, hoping we can keep up our winning run!

Season 2 Episode 2 is up.

Club
IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/8cNiwIb.png)

Season 2: September 2021
Still Rumbling Along

Record: 14W-1D-2L, 43 points (1st place in Vanarama National North)

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Our good form continues through September, as we hit on all cylinders. We roll to 6 league wins and only a 1-0 loss to 3rd place Chester tarnishes the month. Even better, South Shields comes back to earth and slips up frequently enough that we slip by them in the standings by the slimmest of margins. With Chester right on their heels, this is shaping up to be a three-way race for the title.

On a personal note, the results get me my first Manager of the Month award. After coming close a number of times in the past couple of years, it’s nice to pick one of these up.

The month hasn’t been without challenges, however. The packed schedule has us juggling lineups to try to prevent wear and tear on our players, and we’re starting to pick up a number of injuries due to the large number of matches.

Heading into next month, things will stay busy, with 2-3 matches all the way through the month. I’m hopeful we can hold together, as there definitely isn’t room to slip up, with Chester and South Shields right on our heels.

Season 2 Episode 3 Showdown vs. South Shields is up.

Well, that's not a bad start.

Roke wrote:

Well, that's not a bad start.

Thanks! Things ... have gone south a bit since then. I should have new content up later today.

Just have to pry my daughter away from Sims 4 so I can use the computer.

I'm just still endlessly amused to see FM content with an American accent (and a U of Minnesota hat, no less). It's a bit rare.

Also, there are some people out there doing great work explaining the game. I was terrified to use the Mezzala, until I came across this explanation of how to make it work:

Thanks, Prederick! It's interesting, there is a whole community of fringe FM creators (30-500 subscribers), and a handful of those are here in the US. So I'm not alone, in any case. I am definitely the only one I've seen who wears a Minnesota cap, though. I'll give you that.

After a few holidays off, I'm planning to jump back into this today. Should be back to regular updates starting tomorrow.

Club
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Season 2: October 2021
A Turn of Form

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Manager Notes
We start the month well, but the three months of two matches per week finally takes its toll on us in the back half of the month. We stumble and drop out of the FA Cup against National League relegation candidate Chorley, then sandwich losses around a great match against second-place South Shields. All in all we pick up 4 league wins against 2 losses, but we end the month on a concerning turn of form.

One of the reasons that we’re struggling is injury. We’ve lost our league-leading striker, Ne-Nayeh, to a groin injury, and our best right winger to an ankle injury. With two of our best three offensive players out, we just can’t find the net.

On a positive note, we still end the month in first place, as both South Shields and Chester struggle to keep up their torrid first half pace as well.

Looking ahead, we’re through the brutal part of our schedule and have a light November match schedule on the horizon. Both of our injured players should be back in the lineup by the end of next month. If we can hold on to first place during the next month, maybe we can find our good form again with a healthy lineup.

Season 2 Episode 4 FA Trophy Cup Match vs. Guiseley is up.

Club
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Season 2: November 2021
Perhaps Back on Track

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Manager Notes
In a surprisingly quiet month, we appear to have righted the ship…perhaps. We start out with another disastrous loss, a 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Harrogate. The loss cuts our 1st-place margin to 2 points, with both South Shields and Chester right on our necks. But we win our last two matches of the month in strong fashion. At month’s end, we’re 4 points up on South Shields and 5 points up on Chester.

Our injured players are back and getting into match shape, which appears to be helping. We’re also developing and starting to use a second formation, a 4-3-3 with a bit more of a defensive emphasis. It seems that a lot of teams have figured out our 4-2-4, and I’m hoping that we can mix things up a bit to keep teams off guard. Initial results are good. We score less but concede less, and teams struggle to get shots on us.

Lastly, we’re getting rumors again of an impending sale of the club. Last time it turned out to be nothing, but who knows? That would certainly make things interesting!

Looking ahead, we’ve got a pretty manageable string of easier opponents lined up for December. I’m hopeful we can go on a nice run here and open up some distance between us and second-place South Shields. Somehow, though, I feel our chances of leaving them behind is slim, and we’re going to need every point we can possibly get to pull this off.

Season 2 Episode 5 is up on YouTube.

Club
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Season 2: December 2021
Steady as She Goes

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Manager Notes
We roll through December, as we win our four league matches and knock Telford United out of the FA Trophy Cup as a bonus. The good results open up a 9-point edge over second-place South Shields, who play well but not at our pace. The perfect month gets me a second Manager of the Month award. Yippee!

There are concerns, however. Yassine En-Nayeh, our star striker, can’t find the net after coming back from injury. Not only that, but he looks awful, missing sitters and easy shots and just generally playing like a shell of his former self. I’d feel a lot more comfortable about things if he were scoring.

Also, Chairman Jimmy keeps bouncing back and forth between “loving the club” and “selling the club.” I think we’ve had three such cycles, and then it ends with him saying that there is no way he’s selling. We’ll see.

Looking ahead, we’ve got a big month next month, with a 2nd-Round FA Trophy Cup away match against Ebbsfleet, who sit in 1st Place in the National League. It is simply the worst possible draw to get. We’ll also end the month with a huge match against South Shields. Big times coming!

For more info and a look at January: Season 2 Episode 6

Gonna bench En-Nayeh?

garion333 wrote:

Gonna bench En-Nayeh?

That's a good question. I've been switching players in and out of that spot now, and no one except for Nombe seems to score from there. And even Nombe has only gotten one or two. I'm starting to think the tactic is broken and the AI is man-marking that spot? It's baffling, because it was so productive for the first half of the season. Watching the matches, it's not that we aren't getting chances for the striker there, though. They are getting lots of good chances, they just drill them right at the keeper or miss the net entirely. Weird.

For a while, I was reading the forums on feedback on the current engine, and it was odd because some people were saying no matter what they did they couldn't get their strikers to score, and other people were posting the exact opposite, that their strikers were performing fine. For me, it's been both. The first season and a half I've had no problem with the striker position scoring, and now nobody can score from there.

Club
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Season 2: January 2022
A Two-Horse Race

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Manager Notes
We start the month out with a tight 1-0 win over Darlington, then follow that with an awful performance against a weak Telford United. We rebound strongly, however, as we beat National League leader Ebbsfleet 2-1 in the FA Trophy Cup to send us on to the 3rd round. We win again after that against Stourbridge.

You’d think with all the winning we’d be pulling away from South Shields, but they just refuse to lose. By the end of the month they trail us by only 3 points, although we have a game in hand. We square off against them to end the month in what turns out to be an epic battle. Down 1-0, we storm back to tie then win on a 95th-minute daisy cutter from our right winger, Shionobare. The huge win puts our lead back to 6 points with a match in hand and 13 matches to go.

I’d like to feel more comfortable with this lead, but it seems as if South Shields is going to keep this interesting. I have a sense they aren’t done yet. We’ll need to keep winning to see this out.

For more info and an early look at February: Season 2 Episode 7