FM23

[SimonD 889 966]

Just downloaded the beta version (bit cheaper, and upgrades once the game is finally released) - set up 2 saves, one with boro, one with Man City 

On the Man City save, just looked at Steffan. He's on £80k a week apparently!

Game isn't much different from FM22, few more new features, but if you know your way around FM22 you'll be reet.

[Brunners 8,597 25.1k]

I always get suckered in & buy it every year & I'm always disappointed at how every year is just "the previous year with some small polishing"

There hasn't really been any big features in a couple years now & the graphics still stink!

Still, I'm sure I'll sink 100s of hours in like normal 😄

Started a save as Boro as well & first thing I think is that some of our players are way over rated. Will be curious to see the CA/PA totals when they're available - in game McNair is practically undroppable.

[Neverbefore 12,323 26.6k]

What sort of budget do Boro have? Expecting a decent one given the sales this summer

[Aphex_Boro 1,554 6.4k]

5 hours ago, Neverbefore said:

What sort of budget do Boro have? Expecting a decent one given the sales this summer

£7.5m with about 40k in wages left over

 

[Neverbefore 12,323 26.6k]

28 minutes ago, Aphex_Boro said:

£7.5m with about 40k in wages left over

 

Unreal. Haven't had that decent a budget for many years. Will probably wait till after god of war before getting into a game though, any signing recommendations? I normally go with 4231, assuming that our squad only really needs a winger and an amc to make that happen. 

[Aphex_Boro 1,554 6.4k]

1 hour ago, Neverbefore said:

Unreal. Haven't had that decent a budget for many years. Will probably wait till after god of war before getting into a game though, any signing recommendations? I normally go with 4231, assuming that our squad only really needs a winger and an amc to make that happen. 

Only one I brought it was Max Lowe to play left back, around 2.5m and a huge upgrade on Bola (Giles can't really play LB in a flat back 4, definitely more of a winger on FM).

I don't usually like to make wholesale changes in the first window with Boro but it would probably be pretty straightforward putting together a team that can get promoted first season with that budget.

Once the full game releases I'll try my usual challenge of achieving world domination with AFC Telford

[Rob 5,310 8.2k]

cant you play 2 player no more, one boro , one man city, then buy crooks for 400m lol

[SimonD 889 966]

4 hours ago, Rob said:

cant you play 2 player no more, one boro , one man city, then buy crooks for 400m lol

Classic move. (and yes I think you can). 

I reckon Crooks would do alright under Pep

[Changing Times 13,018 20.1k]

I'm going to have a go at a BoroBilbao game.  Basically what Bilbao do except it will be taken to the extreme as only players brought through the youth system here are allowed to play.  No incoming transfers, including youngsters, unless the player being bought came through the ranks here first.

Cue wavy lines as we step back into the history....

It's May 2006, Boro have just played in their first European final, a resounding 4-0 defeat against a quality Sevilla side.  Only three days previously, a team featuring almost all Middlesbrough youth team products, lost narrowly at Fulham to end the Premier League season with a 14th placed finish.  The manager, Steve McClaren, was about to head off to future glory with the England national team but the future looked bright with a strong commitment to producing our own players, and one of the top youth systems in the country...or so we thought.

Cue more wavy lines but this time we move forward in history...

It's now the summer of 2013, and a lot has changed at Boro.  Gone are the glory days of the Premier League and European football.  Instead the club finds itself about to begin it's 5th successive season in the Championship.  The previous season, which began with so much promise, fizzled out alarmingly, as the team's form collapsed in the new year and the club plummeted from 2nd to 16th place.  It's becoming clear to Steve Gibson that things have to change but what exactly.  Finances have been tight for a while, the incumbent manager and club legend Tony Mowbray has failed to reach the play offs in each season in charge, and the club don't look likely to challenge for promotion any time soon.  These thoughts swirled around Steve's head as he drifted off to sleep....

Anyway, so Steve was visited by the ghost of seasons past, the ghost of seasons present, and the ghost of seasons yet to come.  The ghost of seasons past reminded him of the game just seven years ago when an almost full squad of Academy developed talent played in a Premier League fixture.  Look how much pride you took in that Steve, look at the investment you put into youth development here.  The ghost of seasons present showed him the current squad, a handful of decent pros, some youngsters, and a lot of journeymen types.  Where was the pride in that?  Was that really what he wanted his club to look like?  The ghost of seasons to come showed him the future.  In the short term there would be excitement and success on the back of major financial investment, but ultimately it would lead to failure and disappointment.  The Academy was almost an afterthought as a succession of managers brought in a load of lame arsed crapsters.  There was very little pride in those teams, and a lack of identity.  It didn't have to be that way of course but only if Steve changed his club's ways...

So let's pretend that he did.  In the summer of 2013 Gibson decided to try something completely different, quite radical in some ways.  No more spending on transfers, no more bouncing around looking for an identity.  From now on the club would only use youth team products, Gibson could save a few bob, and Boro would have it's own identity as a club completely based around youth development.  I was trying to figure out how best to do it.  I was going to just start it now in 2022, sell off the players who aren't our products and crack on from there but I figured that would take a while to do, and given the way the game works it would annoy all the players and presumably lead to me being sacked.  What I've decided to do instead is use the editor.  I've removed all of the current players no longer eligible to play for us but I've added some of the players from the past who would be - Gibson, Tavernier, Steele etc, as if we really did change our entire way of operating in 2013.  The squad is now as follows:

GK's - Steele, Hemming, Brynn, Pears, James,

DF's - Gibson, Fry, Wood, Adam Jackson, Brad Halliday, Callum Johnson, Coulson, Nathan McGinley, Reading, 

MF's - Matt Dolan, Smallwood, Callum Cooke, Malley, Hackney, Curtis Edwards, Tavernier, Jordan Jones, Harry Chapman

FW's - Coburn, Wyke, Walker

And the current youngsters I've left unchanged except that Conteh has been released.  Where possible I've switched a like for like player as well so Gibson came here and Clarke went to Norwich.  Steele and Pears came here so Daniels and Roberts went to Brighton and Blackburn.  Tavernier came back so Jones went to Bournemouth and so on.

Have I missed any players out though that should be here?  I've stuck to those playing league football still, and only those who left here after the summer of 2013.  I'm sure I've missed a few so if I have would you pop them on here so I can add them before I start the game.

Oh yeah and I also altered the expectations so that we can remain a Championship club (hopefully) over the next few seasons while our youth development kicks in without having to get promotion, and I changed it so there can be no takeovers.

Any other thoughts of stuff to add that anyone thinks of I'd appreciate hearing.  I won't be starting the game for a few days.

[Denzel Zanzibar 7,315 14.3k]

8 hours ago, Changing Times said:

I'm going to have a go at a BoroBilbao game.  Basically what Bilbao do except it will be taken to the extreme as only players brought through the youth system here are allowed to play.  No incoming transfers, including youngsters, unless the player being bought came through the ranks here first.

Cue wavy lines as we step back into the history....

It's May 2006, Boro have just played in their first European final, a resounding 4-0 defeat against a quality Sevilla side.  Only three days previously, a team featuring almost all Middlesbrough youth team products, lost narrowly at Fulham to end the Premier League season with a 14th placed finish.  The manager, Steve McClaren, was about to head off to future glory with the England national team but the future looked bright with a strong commitment to producing our own players, and one of the top youth systems in the country...or so we thought.

Cue more wavy lines but this time we move forward in history...

It's now the summer of 2013, and a lot has changed at Boro.  Gone are the glory days of the Premier League and European football.  Instead the club finds itself about to begin it's 5th successive season in the Championship.  The previous season, which began with so much promise, fizzled out alarmingly, as the team's form collapsed in the new year and the club plummeted from 2nd to 16th place.  It's becoming clear to Steve Gibson that things have to change but what exactly.  Finances have been tight for a while, the incumbent manager and club legend Tony Mowbray has failed to reach the play offs in each season in charge, and the club don't look likely to challenge for promotion any time soon.  These thoughts swirled around Steve's head as he drifted off to sleep....

Anyway, so Steve was visited by the ghost of seasons past, the ghost of seasons present, and the ghost of seasons yet to come.  The ghost of seasons past reminded him of the game just seven years ago when an almost full squad of Academy developed talent played in a Premier League fixture.  Look how much pride you took in that Steve, look at the investment you put into youth development here.  The ghost of seasons present showed him the current squad, a handful of decent pros, some youngsters, and a lot of journeymen types.  Where was the pride in that?  Was that really what he wanted his club to look like?  The ghost of seasons to come showed him the future.  In the short term there would be excitement and success on the back of major financial investment, but ultimately it would lead to failure and disappointment.  The Academy was almost an afterthought as a succession of managers brought in a load of lame arsed crapsters.  There was very little pride in those teams, and a lack of identity.  It didn't have to be that way of course but only if Steve changed his club's ways...

So let's pretend that he did.  In the summer of 2013 Gibson decided to try something completely different, quite radical in some ways.  No more spending on transfers, no more bouncing around looking for an identity.  From now on the club would only use youth team products, Gibson could save a few bob, and Boro would have it's own identity as a club completely based around youth development.  I was trying to figure out how best to do it.  I was going to just start it now in 2022, sell off the players who aren't our products and crack on from there but I figured that would take a while to do, and given the way the game works it would annoy all the players and presumably lead to me being sacked.  What I've decided to do instead is use the editor.  I've removed all of the current players no longer eligible to play for us but I've added some of the players from the past who would be - Gibson, Tavernier, Steele etc, as if we really did change our entire way of operating in 2013.  The squad is now as follows:

GK's - Steele, Hemming, Brynn, Pears, James,

DF's - Gibson, Fry, Wood, Adam Jackson, Brad Halliday, Callum Johnson, Coulson, Nathan McGinley, Reading, 

MF's - Matt Dolan, Smallwood, Callum Cooke, Malley, Hackney, Curtis Edwards, Tavernier, Jordan Jones, Harry Chapman

FW's - Coburn, Wyke, Walker

And the current youngsters I've left unchanged except that Conteh has been released.  Where possible I've switched a like for like player as well so Gibson came here and Clarke went to Norwich.  Steele and Pears came here so Daniels and Roberts went to Brighton and Blackburn.  Tavernier came back so Jones went to Bournemouth and so on.

Have I missed any players out though that should be here?  I've stuck to those playing league football still, and only those who left here after the summer of 2013.  I'm sure I've missed a few so if I have would you pop them on here so I can add them before I start the game.

Oh yeah and I also altered the expectations so that we can remain a Championship club (hopefully) over the next few seasons while our youth development kicks in without having to get promotion, and I changed it so there can be no takeovers.

Any other thoughts of stuff to add that anyone thinks of I'd appreciate hearing.  I won't be starting the game for a few days.

You're gonna get dicked every game

[Neverbefore 12,323 26.6k]

Sounds interesting but really tough. 

I think I've read everything correctly but maybe I missed it out - is there a reason why Joe Bennett isn't in there? Ripley in nets too. 

[Neverbefore 12,323 26.6k]

Nvm Bennett left in 2012. Christ I'm getting old 

[Changing Times 13,018 20.1k]

On 11/16/2022 at 10:38 AM, Neverbefore said:

Sounds interesting but really tough. 

I think I've read everything correctly but maybe I missed it out - is there a reason why Joe Bennett isn't in there? Ripley in nets too. 

Ripley is one I missed, thanks mate.

The summer 2013 bit was a little arbitrary I suppose.  Basically I got the game and went to be Boro but I'm usually Boro when I've had these games so decided to do something different and I thought about Bilbao and how they do things.  Then I just thought why not try it with Boro, which lead to me thinking about real life and whether it could be done, what clubs would stand a chance, how they'd do it etc.  I thought Boro might actually be one of the more likely to succeed - local owner so you'd have that going for you, a club that has invested in youth development previously, and decent sized club so you'd have enough pull to get sufficient quality of youngsters.  That made me think about us in the mid 2000's etc and thus I came up with the above fiction.  I tried just going with Boro now and selling everyone but that just annoys the players, and editing the club now leaves you with no players, which isn't realistic either.  2013 seemed about right for the start of this current era - just before Karanka came in and Gibson started spending again so the 'what if' scenario kicks in then.

[Changing Times 13,018 20.1k]

On 11/16/2022 at 7:32 AM, Denzel Zanzibar said:

You're gonna get dicked every game

Possibly but the squad isn't that bad.  Goalkeepers are alright, central defenders good, fullbacks/wingbacks are okish.  Midfield has a bit to work with.  Strikers are a bit lacking mind but they aren't terrible.  I think if I can get through three or four seasons or so without being relegated then I'll hopefully be able to start making some progress.  Tricky though cos you're bound to lose some of the better players as you go.

[Neverbefore 12,323 26.6k]

43 minutes ago, Changing Times said:

Ripley is one I missed, thanks mate.

The summer 2013 bit was a little arbitrary I suppose.  Basically I got the game and went to be Boro but I'm usually Boro when I've had these games so decided to do something different and I thought about Bilbao and how they do things.  Then I just thought why not try it with Boro, which lead to me thinking about real life and whether it could be done, what clubs would stand a chance, how they'd do it etc.  I thought Boro might actually be one of the more likely to succeed - local owner so you'd have that going for you, a club that has invested in youth development previously, and decent sized club so you'd have enough pull to get sufficient quality of youngsters.  That made me think about us in the mid 2000's etc and thus I came up with the above fiction.  I tried just going with Boro now and selling everyone but that just annoys the players, and editing the club now leaves you with no players, which isn't realistic either.  2013 seemed about right for the start of this current era - just before Karanka came in and Gibson started spending again so the 'what if' scenario kicks in then.

If you wanted to give yourself a better chance to really grow you could use the editor to increase the facilities to bring through the best possible youngsters. I know that's fudging the system a bit but I think your current rules really limit how far you can go.