Career Mr.Manager takes on the PL Second Chances Challenge

[mcandrew003]

Good update again mate, flowed really well. Well done on your success with Wigan this year, reaching the FA Cup Final is incredible! It's interesting to follow th trip of Blackpool aswell, crazy how far they have dropped after you got them promoted. Keep up the good work mate!

[Mr.Manager]

2 hours ago, mcandrew003 said:

Good update again mate, flowed really well. Well done on your success with Wigan this year, reaching the FA Cup Final is incredible! It's interesting to follow th trip of Blackpool aswell, crazy how far they have dropped after you got them promoted. Keep up the good work mate!

Thanks mate. Yeah, they seem to be really struggling. They sold all the players that I brought in at cut price - they must have had some financial difficulties. Ah well. Not too far off the end now!

[BatiGoal]

Some achievement getting this Wigan side to the FA Cup final. At least Charlton found its way up again that's another step closer to the finishline.

[Ashez]

Brilliant season mate, getting to the FA Cup final was some achievement! 

[Mr.Manager]

@BatiGoal@Ashez Thanks for the support guys! It was a great little cup run although we did get found out in the final.

[Mr.Manager]

Season 10

 

Highest division for second chance teams:

Premier League: 36

Championship: 8

League 1: 3

 

Last year was a roaring success, and, despite our eventual defeat in the FA Cup final, there was a feeling that we were building a top quality side.

 

So much so, in fact, that our veteran midfielder, Jack Wilshere, earned an England call up.

 

 

Not many 33 year old Championship players manage that!

 

A decent start to the league campaign left me confident that we would return to the top flight in no time. And when a new vacancy came up, I was left with a bit of a puzzle…

 

 

Is it too early to take my managerial skills to West Yorkshire? Can I trust Wigan to complete the job without my steer?

 

It was a tricky one, but in the end I decided against it. I was planning on taking as many players as possible to my next club by any means necessary, and I felt it was too dangerous too disrupt the Wigan side and risk having to waste another season back there further down the line.

 

Months later, we sealed the title with no real difficulty and there were no jobs immediately available, so it's hard to say whether I made the right choice…

 

 

There was one big bonus with my decision to stay in Lancashire…

 

 

I knew we could do it!

 

Elsewhere

 

Liverpool won the Premier League this year, ending the era of Manchester dominance. Liverpool haven't ever won the league before, so no extra points for me there.

 

Wigan were the only second chance team promoted to the Premier League this time around.

 

Ipswich and Portsmouth again swapped places in Leagues 1 and 2, and they're looking like my biggest concerns at the minute.

With Wigan now ticked off, there are only 10 second chance teams left to save. At the start of season 11, these are as follows: Barnsley, Cardiff, Sheffield United (Championship), Birmingham, Bradford, Ipswich, Oldham, Swindon, MK Dons (League 1), Portsmouth (League 2).

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

Aston Villa, Barnsley, Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool, Bolton Wanderers, Bradford City, Cardiff City, Charlton Athletic, Coventry City, Derby County, Fulham, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Newcastle United, Norwich City, Nottingham Forest, Oldham Athletic, Portsmouth, QPR, Reading, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Swindon Town, Wigan Athletic, Wimbledon, Wolves

 

 

Thanks for reading, all comments welcome!

[kts365]

What progress. This is amazing mate and well done on the cup success

[Mr.Manager]

1 hour ago, kts365 said:

What progress. This is amazing mate and well done on the cup success

Thanks mate! Getting there definitely. The last few clubs might take a while to get over the line though.

 

[mcandrew003]

Brilliant stuff mate, FA Cup and a promotion! Looking forward to the finale, I think you have it in the bag!

[Ashez]

Awesome season mate, seriously destroying this challenge! 

[BatiGoal]

Massive run in your first decade of the challenge. Progress will be slower from now on but with 10 clubs left and 2 decades it's yours to lose. You got this!

[Mr.Manager]

17 hours ago, mcandrew003 said:

Brilliant stuff mate, FA Cup and a promotion! Looking forward to the finale, I think you have it in the bag!

That FA Cup victory was really sweet; totally made up for last years defeat. Thanks mate!

added 0 minutes later

15 hours ago, Ashez said:

Awesome season mate, seriously destroying this challenge! 

Cheers Ashez, getting there!

[Mr.Manager]

4 hours ago, BatiGoal said:

Massive run in your first decade of the challenge. Progress will be slower from now on but with 10 clubs left and 2 decades it's yours to lose. You got this!

Thanks for the support BG. That's it, plenty of time to finish it off. 

[Mr.Manager]

Season 11

 

Highest division for second chance teams:

Premier League: 37

Championship: 7

League 1: 3

 

With promotion to the top flight wrapped up with Wigan, it was time to move on. No jobs were immediately available however, and so I used this opportunity to experiment with trying to help the other second chancers vicariously.

 

@scratch99 's message about being even more sneaky had been playing on my mind, and I thought I'd better check to see whether I could be exchanging more players than I have been.

 

I looked at the problem club Portsmouth to see what players they were able to take on player exchange initially:

 

 

 

Just the one; a half decent midfielder. Let's see what happens if I put my best player on the transfer list and offer out to clubs:

 

 

No change. Ok, but his contract demands are obviously fairly high. What about a good player with a very cheap contract:

 

 

Still no change. So it looks like you really can't exchange every player. Phew. That is a relief. I'd have been gutted if it turned out I could have been constantly trading my players with all the other clubs.

 

On to the actual football, and there was just enough time to win the Community Shield before my next opportunity arose…

 

 

 

The Club: Birmingham City FC

 

The Pedigree: Birmingham City have enjoyed 7 seasons of Premier League football. Or should that be endured? In their latest stint under Alex McLeish, the club played a stilted, uber-defensive brand of football which was a pain to watch. It wasn't always so bad though, and in the club's first residency in the Premier League they lasted four seasons, achieved a top half finish and brought in quality players such as Christoph Dugarry and Mikael Forssel.

 

Birmingham's trophy cabinet is reasonably bare for a club of their size, with a handful of second division titles and a pair of league cup trophies all to shout about. However, the club does have the distinction of being the first English club to take part in European competition, when they competed in the inaugural Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 1956. The club reached consecutive finals in 1960 and 1961 but were beaten both times and so missed out on being the first English side to win a European trophy.

 

 

I wreaked absolute havoc before I left Wigan. Transfer listing and offering out every player, part exchanging or releasing on a free all that I could, and spending a whopping £58m on a creaking Birmingham centre back.

 

It was quite evil.

 

Despite Birmingham sitting in 16th when I took over in November, our squad proved to be far too strong for League 1 and we romped to the title, picking up another Checkatrade trophy along the way.

 

 

Elsewhere

 

Arsenal won the PL title, making it four out of the six ex-winners covered. Blackburn and Leicester are both languishing in the Championship so I doubt we'll get a clean sweep of those.

 

Barnsley and Cardiff both just missed out on promotion through the playoffs, so no new second chance teams this round.

There was playoff heartache for MK Dons (League 1) and Portsmouth (League 2) too. It could have been a really good season.

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spoiler

Aston Villa, Barnsley, Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool, Bolton Wanderers, Bradford City, Cardiff City, Charlton Athletic, Coventry City, Derby County, Fulham, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Newcastle United, Norwich City, Nottingham Forest, Oldham Athletic, Portsmouth, QPR, Reading, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Swindon Town, Wigan Athletic, Wimbledon, Wolves

 

 

Thanks for reading, all comments welcome!

 

 

 

[Scratch]

Great stuff! You've done wonders. But Portsmouth still haven't read the memo, LOL!!

Every time I read this, I want to abandon my other careers and try this....

[Scratch]

Hey, out of interest, are you using the OME or the EME?

[mcandrew003]

Getting there pal, agree with Scratch99 that this challenge is extremely attractive to play and read. Keep up the good work pal, can't wait for the next one!

[Mr.Manager]

1 hour ago, scratch99 said:

Hey, out of interest, are you using the OME or the EME?

Always the EME for me. I've never tried the OME; I know that it's supposed to give higher scoring games but I don't really get the mechanics of it.

 

Thanks for the support! Bloody Portsmouth eh?!

[Mr.Manager]

47 minutes ago, mcandrew003 said:

Getting there pal, agree with Scratch99 that this challenge is extremely attractive to play and read. Keep up the good work pal, can't wait for the next one!

Cheers mate. Get on it! It's not a quick challenge but it's definitely fun to do.

[mcandrew003]

Might have to pal, although I'm running a few at the moment. It's definitely on my to do list though!

[Scratch]

9 hours ago, Mr.Manager said:

Always the EME for me. I've never tried the OME; I know that it's supposed to give higher scoring games but I don't really get the mechanics of it.

With you on that. I tried a proof of concept on the OME last night but only lasted a couple of games. I was hoping it would let me get through the seasons quicker, but with highlights turned off it didn't seem that much quicker... And the formation I was trying to use didn't work at all (of course) and I had no idea where to start. Back to EME for me.

Anyway, I've started a save for this challenge (couldn't resist) and will do it in parallel with my PinaColada one. I'm guessing you will be pretty surprised when you see which team I'm starting with! Pretty left field...

[Mr.Manager]

6 hours ago, scratch99 said:

With you on that. I tried a proof of concept on the OME last night but only lasted a couple of games. I was hoping it would let me get through the seasons quicker, but with highlights turned off it didn't seem that much quicker... And the formation I was trying to use didn't work at all (of course) and I had no idea where to start. Back to EME for me.

Anyway, I've started a save for this challenge (couldn't resist) and will do it in parallel with my PinaColada one. I'm guessing you will be pretty surprised when you see which team I'm starting with! Pretty left field...

Awesome! Looking forward to seeing how you get on!

[Mr.Manager]

Season 12

 

Highest division for second chance teams:

Premier League: 37

Championship: 7

League 1: 3

 

With all the money and half of the squad of my all-conquering Wigan side transplanted to my new Birmingham team, it was no surprise to see us walk the title. 114 points equalled the league record haul.

 

 

In truth, I felt bad about how I had decimated Wigan side, and I shed a little tear for them when they desperately tried to bring me back in December.

 

 

I'm sorry guys, but I've got a challenge to complete!

 

One match in particular stood out, as I tried to give Cardiff a helping hand.

 

 

I'll admit I didn't use this formation for the entire game, but we did still score twice after I made the switch!

 

Once the league was secured, I set about looking for another job. And Bradford came a-calling.

 

 

 

The Club: Bradford City AFC

 

The Pedigree: Bradford made their Premier League debut back in the 1999/00 season, and Paul Jewell's squad of grisly veterans were quickly labelled "Dad's Army" and tipped for relegation. In an amazing act of escapism, a single goal from David Wetherall against Liverpool on the last day of the season helped the club defy their critics and avoid the drop. Bradford generally struggled over their two top flight seasons, picking up just 62 points in two years, but they will always cherish that victory.

 

Bradford's one major honour came way back in 1911, when they defeated defending champions Newcastle United in the FA Cup final. The club's other claim to fame was a lot less happy, as the 1985 Bradford City stadium fire sadly killed 56 supporters and injured hundreds of others.

 

 

The season was over by the time I took the reins, so we'll start next season afresh.

 

Elsewhere

 

Aside from Birmigham's promotion to the top flight, the only other success came from Swindon, as they made their way to the Championship for the first time. Could they be the next second chancer to tick off the list?

Spoiler

 

l

 

 

 

Spoiler

Aston Villa, Barnsley, Birmingham City, Blackburn Rovers, Blackpool, Bolton Wanderers, Bradford City, Cardiff City, Charlton Athletic, Coventry City, Derby County, Fulham, Ipswich Town, Leeds United, Newcastle United, Norwich City, Nottingham Forest, Oldham Athletic, Portsmouth, QPR, Reading, Sheffield United, Sheffield Wednesday, Swindon Town, Wigan Athletic, Wimbledon, Wolves

 

 

Thanks for reading, all comments welcome!

 

[Ashez]

Down to the final nine! Impressive once again mate. 

[Mr.Manager]

15 minutes ago, Ashez said:

Down to the final nine! Impressive once again mate.

Thanks man. It looks like these final nine will need their hands holding over the line, might be a painful experience!

[Scratch]

Great job again. Love that formation you used. Was Wilson your actual goalie or did you sub him in? But dude... Fr1cken Portsmouth! You're going to have to do something extreme with them!  

As for my challenge, I decided I better get a clarification of the rules (on the main Challenge post), in case what I've done is a bit too far left of centre. Was hoping to post the intro tonight, but want to check that first.

[Mr.Manager]

10 minutes ago, scratch99 said:

Great job again. Love that formation you used. Was Wilson your actual goalie or did you sub him in? But dude... Fr1cken Portsmouth! You're going to have to do something extreme with them!

As for my challenge, I decided I better get a clarification of the rules (on the main Challenge post), in case what I've done is a bit too far left of centre. Was hoping to post the intro tonight, but want to check that first.

That would be James Wilson, ex-Manchester United striker! Haha. I've never gone the full 90 minutes playing that formation but I have honestly won games where we played a full half of it.

 

Great stuff! Looking forward to seeing how you tackle it. I know I would do things slightly differently if I were to try again but sounds like you're thinking way outside the box...

[Scratch]

Just now, Mr.Manager said:

That would be James Wilson, ex-Manchester United striker! Haha. I've never gone the full 90 minutes playing that formation but I have honestly won games where we played a full half of it.

 

Great stuff! Looking forward to seeing how you tackle it. I know I would do things slightly differently if I were to try again but sounds like you're thinking way outside the box...

Read more  

Haha, I liked him in FMM 2016, haven't tried him in FMM 2017 yet, and certainly not as a GK!

I think that formation is like some sort of old army tactic. We're weak in the centre, attack us there (then we'll swarm down from the hills and surround you, pinch the ball and then counter down the field and score)!

For my attempt, I saw what you were doing on the money side of things, and I thought I should ... get some money asap...

Spoiler

Now sitting on £350M (at the beginning of the career). But I didn't get it in England and I'm not sure if that's allowed. 

 

[mcandrew003]

Almost there pal! Love that formation, very strong down the wings Only 9 to go!

[Scratch]

@Mr.Manager Just to let you know, I got the all clear and have posted my career (and pinged you in there). Thanks for the inspiration - I would never have given it a go except for having watched you do it!