Career Mr.Manager takes on the PL Second Chances Challenge

[mcandrew003]

Would anybody be annoyed if I tried this?

Might just change the name of my new thread and give it a go, would you be alright with that mate?

[Mr.Manager]

Season 13

 

 

 

Highest division for second chance teams:

Premier League: 38

Championship: 7

League 1: 2

 

 

I've won the League 1 title 4 times already in this career, so another crack at it with Bradford was hardly going to be a problem.

 

 

Our season as a whole went like this…

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over 46 league games we lost 6 times. Those defeats were to Sheffield United x2, Ipswich x2, MK Dons and Oldham. In other words, we only lost to the other second chance teams…

 

 

We lose when we want, we lose when we waaaannntt, we're Bradford City, we lose when we want!

 

 

In our 8 games against that select four, they scored 31 goals; in the other 38 games we only conceded 15 times.

 

 

Those games notwithstanding, we romped to the title with a record number of points.

 

 

There are fewer and fewer real players left in the game, so it was nice to see that our star performer was one of them. Player of the season Serge Gnabry scored 41 times from the left flank, which is a Bradford City club record.

 

 

 

 

 

Elsewhere

 

 

 

Finishing runners up to us in League 1 were Sheffield United, who will join us in the Championship next year. Oldham finished third, but unfortunately lost in the play off final.

 

 

Not much movement elsewhere, with Portsmouth continuing to fall short in 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!

 

 

[BatiGoal]

Please wrap this up asap. I don't want anything to come between me and you crossing that finishline. 

[Ashez]

Just keep chipping away mate! Going brilliantly! 

[Mr.Manager]

29 minutes ago, BatiGoal said:

Please wrap this up asap. I don't want anything to come between me and you crossing that finishline. 

Haha trust me, I want to! Those last few clubs are a bit of a struggle though...

added 0 minutes later

20 minutes ago, Ashez said:

Just keep chipping away mate! Going brilliantly!

Thanks mate, just gotta stick at it!

[mcandrew003]

Almost there! Gnabry getting 41? Quality stuff there pal, I see a second successive promotion on the cards!

[Bridgeoftea]

Wanna try this! But only have fm16  

[Scratch]

Great stuff mate, going really well. Got a plan for Portsmouth? I guess you need to wait for the job to become available. The more I find out about this challenge to more I appreciate it. 

[Taff]

Just caught up on all of this dude, and I'm loving it (bit confused) but loving it

KIU

[Mr.Manager]

11 hours ago, Bridgeoftea said:

Wanna try this! But only have fm16

No reason why you can't on FM16 buddy!

added 0 minutes later

7 hours ago, scratch99 said:

Great stuff mate, going really well. Got a plan for Portsmouth? I guess you need to wait for the job to become available. The more I find out about this challenge to more I appreciate it.

I'm really unsure. I've given them money, quality players, and they were already one of the better teams in the league. I'll have to go there at some point, but I haven't even noticed the job become available.

[Mr.Manager]

2 hours ago, Taff said:

Just caught up on all of this dude, and I'm loving it (bit confused) but loving it

KIU

Haha glad you're loving it! What's confusing you?

[Scratch]

3 minutes ago, Mr.Manager said:

I'm really unsure. I've given them money, quality players, and they were already one of the better teams in the league. I'll have to go there at some point, but I haven't even noticed the job become available.

I guess that's the nightmare scenario - you need to go somewhere, but the job never becomes available. Hope they sack that manager for you asap!

Portsmouth look almost certain to go up for me in my first season, which is amazing given how they are going here. I gave them £10M, but that hasn't impacted them at all (ie they bought a cheap player or two but they haven't played well). Just luck I guess. But Blackpool is almost certainly staying down and Oldham are coming down to join them, so I guess it evens out in the end...

[Mr.Manager]

2 minutes ago, scratch99 said:

so I guess it evens out in the end...

This is it, for every one that goes up another goes down (or so it seems!). It's a good job we have the choice of MK Dons or AFC Wimbledon, as AFC Wimbledon have fallen all the way down to the Vanarama South in my career!

[Scratch]

Just now, Mr.Manager said:

It's a good job we have the choice of MK Dons or AFC Wimbledon, as AFC Wimbledon have fallen all the way down to the Vanarama South in my career!

Same here! Not quite finished the season, but it looks like MK Dons are going up, while AFC Wimbleon are going down... Pity, as I would have preferred AFC Wimbledon, but I know who I need to back now!

[Mr.Manager]

Season 14

 

Highest division for second chance teams:

Premier League: 38

Championship: 7

League 1: 2

 

Season 14 was genuinely an exciting one, as I tussled at the top of the Championship with ex-clubs Bolton and Wigan and I tried to aid Cardiff and Barnsley gain promotion through the play offs.

 

Unfortunately, I completely failed to take screenshots!

 

Here are the two that I did capture…

 

 

10 years after my last EFL cup triumph, I win it again. All thanks to some very, VERY late goals.

 

 

I sealed the deal with a few weeks to spare but with none of the other jobs becoming available I stayed with Bradford.

 

Elsewhere

 

Barnsley and Cardiff both had good seasons, but Barnsley fell off towards the end of the season and Cardiff were beaten in the Play Off semis.

 

In fact, none of the remaining 8 clubs went up or down, so aside from Bradford being ticked off the list, it's as you were.

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!

 

[veerus]

I've been kind of skimming through this thread and just took the time to really read it in full.  Your results have been out of this world!  Any team you manage rockets straight to the top.  I know each team is different but what are your go-to tactical decisions to achieve such levels of success?

[mcandrew003]

Well done on the promotion mate! Really inspiring me to carry on with mine, KIU!

[Scratch]

Another great performance! And that League Cup win was awesome - late goals indeed. Good luck with getting one of the remaining clubs soon.

[Ashez]

One down, eight to go! 

[kts365]

Getting there mate. Just team by team. Great stuff.

[BatiGoal]

Really impressive stuff, mate! Keep slugging thru.

[Mr.Manager]

On 13/05/2017 at 15:18, veerus said:

I've been kind of skimming through this thread and just took the time to really read it in full.  Your results have been out of this world!  Any team you manage rockets straight to the top.  I know each team is different but what are your go-to tactical decisions to achieve such levels of success?

Read more  

Thanks mate. It has gone really well.

I do use the same tactic at every club and I'll always make sure that I've got two players for each position. Nothing revolutionary but these are the formations I use (spoiler as I've taken this screenshot in my current season):

Spoiler

 

usually this when I'm a smaller club and we're punching above our weight

this when I expect to win and I want to score goals

 

I do tinker in matches and I think this makes a massive difference. If I notice an out of position full back I'll concentrate down that wing etc. 

I must be doing something right anyway as I have a 72% win rate despite changing clubs regularly:

 

Spoiler

 

[Mr.Manager]

23 hours ago, scratch99 said:

Another great performance! And that League Cup win was awesome - late goals indeed. Good luck with getting one of the remaining clubs soon.

 

On 13 May 2017 at 15:57, mcandrew003 said:

Well done on the promotion mate! Really inspiring me to carry on with mine, KIU!

Cheers guys! You two giving this a crack has kept me interested and I'm fascinated by your different approaches.

[Mr.Manager]

Season 15

 

Highest division for second chance teams:

Premier League: 39

Championship: 7

League 1: 1

 

And so we're down to The Hateful Eight. It's quite nice to be down to the last 8 or so; it feels easier to manage and track.

 

We started the season with Bradford, and with no immediate prospects of work elsewhere, I set about helping the clubs as best as I could. I part exchanged as many players as I possible (not very many).

 

And I took on @scratch99 and @mcandrew003's plan of gifting huge sums to the lower teams to see if that helps. With just shy of £60m in the bank, each team was gifted a cool £7.25m

 

 

Even though that left me with a little bit in the bank, I ended up bankrupt!

 

 

I probably wouldn't have done that had I known that the Sheffield United job would come available so soon…

 

 

The Club: Sheffield United FC

 

The Pedigree: Sheffield United may have only spent three seasons in the Premier League, but they have certainly made their mark. Brian Deane scored the first ever Premier League goal for the Blades against some team called Manchester United back in 1992. A terrific run of form in that debut season saw them finish in 9th, their only top half finish. Although they were relegated the following season, they returned under Neil Warnock for the dramatic 2006/07 season. Sheffiedl United were relegated on the final day, after losing a winner takes all game against Wigan and also seeing a Tevez-inspired West Ham pull off an unlikely victory over Manchester United. Blades fans still fume over that West Ham result, given that irregularities were found with the Hammers transfers for Tevez and Mascherano and their belief that West Ham could have been docked points.

 

Sheffield United were formed a massive 128 years ago, although local team Sheffield FC were formed 31 years earlier even than that and as such are known as the oldest football club still in existence in the world. Sheffield United have one top flight title and four FA Cup trophies to their name.

 

 

Notice anything about that job offer? Where's all that money I gave them?!

 

Despite not having quite as much money as I should have, I wheeled and dealed and brought in a dozen or so new recruitments, including a nifty Congolese winger called Assombalonga

 

Who swiftly broke his leg...

 

Despite the set backs, and after a slow start, we eventually went on a really satisfying run of victories and started to pull clear at the top of the Championship.

 

Then I noticed this…

 

 

Woah now. What should I do?? Normally I wouldn't consider moving on until the job is done, but with fewer teams to play for I may need to take any opportunity I can… On the other hand, there's still a large chunk of the season to go and we weren't blowing the opposition away anyway; could I trust the AI to see the job through...?

 

 

In the end, I decided to go for it.

 

 

…and I was overlooked! Me! Charming!

 

 

Anyway, I soon got over that heartache and got on with the task in hand. Towards the end of the season, I spotted another opening.

 

 

This is more like it - the league is all but wrapped up with Sheffield United and I have a chance of sneaking into the playoffs with Oldham too.

 

… and they didn't go for me either!

 

 

This is really worrying stuff. If I'm not able to land the big jobs then getting teams promoted is out of my hands. Although I can throw money and players at teams, I'm learning that the AI is not to be trusted to earn promotion.

 

My reputation is continental (despite having barely played in the top division), so hopefully this is just a blip and I'll get hired for the next one.

 

 

Elsewhere

 

Barnsley and Cardiff both finished mid-table in the Championship and look the most likely to return to the Premier League next.

 

MK Dons finished second in League 1 to join them in the Championship, but Ipswich, Swindon and Oldham all did little of use.

 

Portsmouth had a shocker, finishing 15th in League 2, their lowest league position yet. Just sack your manager and hire me already!

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!

 

[BatiGoal]

Love the logo of the Blades. Some career this is turning out to be. I guess it isn't hard to keep that level of motivation and enthusiasm as your edging closer to completion. Great job!

[Scratch]

Doing well! With the other clubs not hiring you, try quitting before applying. People reported that worked better in the UK Challenge and I noticed it once in my original tests for my go at this challenge.

[Mr.Manager]

11 minutes ago, scratch99 said:

Doing well! With the other clubs not hiring you, try quitting before applying. People reported that worked better in the UK Challenge and I noticed it once in my original tests for my go at this challenge.

Good tip, thanks mate! I've taken drastic action (which I may well regret...). I'll reveal all in the next update.

[Mr.Manager]

1 hour ago, BatiGoal said:

Love the logo of the Blades. Some career this is turning out to be. I guess it isn't hard to keep that level of motivation and enthusiasm as your edging closer to completion. Great job!

It's a great badge isn't it? Yeah, it's managed to stay interesting despite the fact that I'm well into my second decade.

[mcandrew003]

Well done with that promotion mate! Really looking forward to seeing how you finish. And I agree, Sheffield's badge is rather nice

[Mr.Manager]

15 hours ago, mcandrew003 said:

Well done with that promotion mate! Really looking forward to seeing how you finish. And I agree, Sheffield's badge is rather nice

Thanks mate! Let's get this challenge over and done with.