FM23

[SimonD 889 966]

On 11/15/2022 at 10:45 PM, 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.

Bryn Morris
Adam Reach
Alex Pattison
Mitchell Curry

Also, he won't play cos he's always injured but Luke Williams is missing from here. Bring the lad home from Iceland.

 

[Neverbefore 12,323 26.6k]

Started a game myself yesterday, finding it very easy tbh. Signed lowe for lb from sheff utd, Keiran dowell, fe nino and Cole Palmer on loan.

 

Palmer has torn the league apart, muniz has scored more than he's played. Sitting top in Jan, just knocked out of the league cup by spurs in the quarter final. Just signed adli from Milan on loan and pepelu from levante on a perm to replace the outgoing mowatt and luongo. 

Recommend all my signings, they've all been class. 

[Changing Times 13,018 20.1k]

20 hours ago, SimonD said:

Bryn Morris
Adam Reach
Alex Pattison
Mitchell Curry

Also, he won't play cos he's always injured but Luke Williams is missing from here. Bring the lad home from Iceland.

 

Cheers mate, I knew there was a few I'd missed but I've already started the game now 🤦‍♂️  I wasn't sure about including Reach because I thought he was playing somewhere else and we then brought him in to our Academy set up?  I was trying not to include those types of players as it makes it too easy to just go out and sign loads of new gen players aged 15/16 and have them come up through the Under 18 and Under 21 teams.

[Brunners 8,597 25.1k]

@Changing Times How's the save going, mate?

[Changing Times 13,018 20.1k]

On 12/12/2022 at 11:45 AM, Brunners said:

@Changing Times How's the save going, mate?

I haven't had much time to play it really.  I spent the first bit sorting out the individual training, hiring and firing some of the coaching staff for all three teams, then sorting out formations/tactics etc.  So far I have played 9 league games and 2 league cup games.  In the league we are top with 7 wins and 2 draws.  Bit disappointed really as I thought it would be harder than that but I have played 4 different formations/tactics in those games, and none of them have been big wins so it might just be a good start but we'll begin to fade a bit as the season goes on.

As far as the players go, the obvious ones have been good - Fry, Gibson, Tavernier, Hackney, and Coburn.  Along with them, Steele has done really well in goal, Coulson has done a job as a left back/left wing back, Smallwood has done well, and Wyke has also done his bit.  Wood has been my back up in a two or a wide central defender in a 3 and played very well in the three.  Sonny Finch has broken into the first team and scored twice in about 5 games.  I only have a couple of players averaging under 7 so far, even Halliday and Johnson are over 7 having played 3 games each.  Like I said, it's been a bit disappointing but I have been using the formations/tactics more than I usually would, and tweaking things for individual games.