***The Official Football Manager Thread***

[gopher_guy]

Is transferring players TO the MLS a headache? Atlanta has came to me twice now with an offer for one of my CBs. They're willing to pay me pretty handsomely for him, so I really want it to go through, but both times now after the transfer is agreed to, I get a message a couple days later that simply says: "Player X's transfer from Platanias to Atlanta United has been cancelled."

I've seen it before where they can't reach a contract agreement, but the message usually states that. This one just says the deal fell through, and no other info. Is this some MLS weirdness that is causing the deal to fall through?

[Zac]

Sounds like it could be the same bug I experienced in Scotland this year in a earlier save. Where clubs kept trying to make offers for my players, but they couldn't actually sign them because it broke league rules. I assume they can't sign this player because of the same thing, they most likely don't have any designated player spots open or they are over the salary cap.

[Zac]

Our worst season yet in the VNN. Even though we had the same amount of points as last season. Fourth season incoming. What is sad, is this was the best team we've ever had. Or it was until the board force sold our two best players for peanuts. After that we couldn't muster any magic and win down the stretch. Our form was pretty up and down all season to be fair though.




Expectation is to make the playoffs again this season. Going to clear out roughly a third of the team and try and bring in some higher caliber players. Also had to go back to the 4-4-2 this past season about a quarter of the way in. Team was a perfect fit for a 4-1-2-3 DM Wide, but we just couldn't get results using it. So this off season I'll build for a solid 4-4-2 setup. Stupid 4-4-2.

Also all you jerks just demanded raises to $100-120 a week before refusing to sign. So now we are spending ~6.5K a month on staff. I was able to keep finances in check and keep us around 150-200k in the red the last two seasons (because of low spending and decent cup runs). But I think this season with the staff spending and me spending more on players to get better players in, we will end up probably going down to around 300-350K in the red.

So this has to be the season we go up. Or it could be bad going forward trying to chase that promotion. We need to get money in the bank so we can improve the facilities. We have poor everything. The pitch hasn't been relaid in four years. And its poor all year round. I'm tired of hearing about what a horrible playing surface it is. And our training facilities need to be upgraded so players will actually start to reach their potentials. Otherwise we could get stuck in lower league limbo and I might get fired. Chairman wasn't too happy about missing the playoffs this season as it was.

[jvalverde88]

How am I supposed to replace this production?

[Kobalt]

Currently in year 7 (I think?) so I gave my starting GK a non-contract instead of a part-time to save money because I wanted to play my young regen. However, my board sold the young regen because 1.7K is too good to pass up so I planned on going back to my starting GK from previous years but he signed with League One team before the season started. Now I had to scramble for random guys and can't keep a clean sheet anymore.

[Velocityy]

Finally starting to get the hang of the new UI and the new scouting. I kinda hate the UI in game...but at least I'm getting used to it.

Have been inconsistent since taking over Nordvarmland FF in the 4th tier of Swedish football. Basically splitting wins and losses evenly. It's actually fine though since this team was in a relegation spot and now I'm firmly mid-table.

Signed a new Left Winger, who instantly made an impact with 2 assists (despite losing 3-2 in his debut game). Have also signed a new midfielder for depth, as our backups are crap. Still need a starting quality RB and a stronger CB to feel like the team is capable of competing regularly

I have to say, since I last played in FM16, I'm loving the tactical briefing and the increased scouting knowledge of your upcoming opponents. It allows me to tweak my tactics for every match and I actually believe my coaches and scouts with what they tell me. I don't do every suggestion, but switching from flexible to fluid and stuff like that is super helpful.

[gopher_guy]

Finished my 3rd full season at Platanias FC in Greece. It was another successful season, we matched our club record finish last season, and finished 4th again!




Here was our Europa League campaign



It was my first time as a manager in a continental competition, and I thought we did well for ourselves. Had to go through 2 qualifying rounds, but we got through them relatively easily. I was thrilled with our draw. It was tough, but getting to play big teams like Villarreal and AC Milan was so cool. Did not embarrass ourselves at all against Milan, two 0-1 defeats. And we got a huge win away at Villarreal!


We started the league season absolutely on fire, winning handfuls of games at a time. I thought I was going to walk the league for a hot minute. But then Olympiacos found their groove, and I had some injury problems. Bad injury problems. Several key contributors out for weeks, even months, at a time. Last season I was relatively healthy, so I suppose I was due for some bad injury luck. This caused me to have to panic buy a striker in the winter transfer window. But my depth was essentially gone for most of the second half of the season. Someone would come back from injury, and then two more would hurt themselves.

This caused us to stumble in the 2nd half of the season, as you can see.



At the start of this bad run, I had a 4-6 point cushion sitting in the 4th spot. That very quickly evaporated, and I was down in 5th, in danger of dropping to 6th. I desperately wanted to finish at least 5th, as that is the last European spot in Greece. And I got a taste of that sweet, sweet Europa League money this season, it would have been bitterly disappointing to lose out on that this year.

Going into the last day of the season, I was sitting in 4th, Panaitolikos in 5th, and AEK Athens in 6th. I had a 1 point lead on Panaitolikos and a 3 point lead on AEK, but they had a far superior goal advantage.

So going into the last game, I knew that if I lost, and those two won, I'd finish 6th and miss out on the Europa League entirely. And I was playing away at Panathinaikos, traditional Greek power who were sitting comfortably in 3rd.



Came away with a clutch 1-0 victory. Granted, they didn't have anything to play for, but I was still super nervous going into the match. And, both the teams behind me won. So had I lost, I would have finished 6th. But alas, another season in the Europa League for me!

[Zac]

What a season!



All thanks to the new signings. It was hard letting go some of the guys that had been with us for so long, on the way up the leagues. But they just weren't good enough to get us to the next level. But these boys were.

Signing of the season right here:


On top of winning the league we made it to the final of the FA Trophy, before losing to Carlisle United. But the run gave us lots of funds. And the gate receipt split alone from Wembley was enough to bring us up to 66K in the red. So as long as we start getting fans into games now we might start making an upturn and actually begin making money.

And our league history thus far:


VNL here we come! Hoping for mid table, but it might be a relegation battle. Not looking to bring any new faces into the first eam due wage restrictions. But I've already signed some non-contract players to bolster rotation. A few vets and a few youngsters.

And finally, on the staff front NoDaHusker has moved up from U18 Manager to U23 coach as we were given a U23 coaching spot. I tried to promote JHedges from U18 Assistant to U18 Manager, but he refused the job. Seems he wants ImTellinTim's job or nothing. Also Tim and Superman turned down job offers from League 2 teams in favor of staying for far less money. But everyone is now on 120-150. Coming up in the world fellas.