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What Kind of Shoe Sponsorship Would Cobblers Have?
About a year ago, I heard about this granddaddy of all sports simulations - the Championship Manager series. I procured a copy, a real pain here in the U.S. Having broken a baseball management simulation quite easily, I wanted to play CM more realistically, and adpoted your LLM style. Being my first adventure into soccer management, I admittedly chickened out a bit and started in Division Three instead of Conference National. I promise to start a Scottish Third Division game when I get fired. My selection for my first career game in Championship Manager 03/04 is Northampton, of the English Third Division (or League Two, now). Geographically, it's reasonably close to the Warwickshire area which I'd very much like to visit.
For this career game, I chose a large database with only the 5 English divisions. I toyed with a medium database, but even Northampton's roster was affected by it. I recently upgraded computers, and in retrospect I wish I had added Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, to the active leagues. Ah well. I put this game down over the winter months (curse you, World of Warcraft!) but have recently playing it regularly again. I recently completed my third season the game.
06-16-2005, 06:12 PM
What Kind of Shoe Sponsorship Would Cobblers Have? Post #2
Northampton, as of 13.7.2003
Stadium - 7653, all seated
Training Facilities - Need some investment
Balance: £696k, Transfer Budget: £210k
Wage Budget: £31k/wk, Current Wages: £27.8k/wk
Well, the team isn't in bad shape. I have players at every position, although I really don't know who will excel yet. For promising youth, I have a good young left winger and a promising young fullback. I'm not sure why everyone from my own coaches to other teams fawn over the fullback. He doesn't seem that great to me, but my goal is to retain any good youth at this point. Problems include my backup goalkeeper, earning 1/8th of my wage budget.
The season starts well, with the offense clicking. But I have the feeling my offside trap defence could come tumbling down at any time. My keeper is very exposed, due to my defenders' lack of ability to stay in a straight line. But when you're scoring four goals a game, a lot can be forgiven. My scouts have earned their keep already, finding a striker for free who scored four goals in two August games and was named Player of the Month. After a small stumble in form, Northampton goes on a 8-3-0 tear to find themselves in 2nd place at mid-season.
Finances are looking more and more grim, though. Despite a win over Division Two Swindon in the FA Cup, gate reciepts are down drastically. My balance has been whittled in half.
Ye Gods. Northampton finished the season by going 10 games without conceeding a goal. Phenomenal. Too bad the offense tapered badly near the end of the season. Still, the new striker bagged 26 goals while a speedy striker already with the team scored 23 to go along with 14 assists. The FA Cup may have saved my season financially, as I earned a replay with Fulham of the Premiership at Lofton Road. The boost in gate receipts were much needed, although I operated at a loss for the year. Oh, a 2nd place finish and a promotion, too!
Division Three - 2nd, 25-16-5, 91 pts, 91 GF, 34 GA, ±57 GD League Cup - Ousted in first round on penalties by Bristol Rovers. Vans Trophy - Ousted in first round on penalties by Bristol City. I see a trend forming. FA Cup - Ousted in third round (woohoo!) against Fulham of the Premiership. Even better was earning a reply at Lofton Road for added gate receipts.
06-16-2005, 06:14 PM
What Kind of Shoe Sponsorship Would Cobblers Have? Post #3
Well the post-season has been interesting. I had no idea I'd be receiving £230k of prize money for league play, or £300k for next year's TV Revenue. Even still, I was in the red last year. Signed a young, ultra creative attacking midfielder. I was hoping for someone who might be a bit more of a scoring threat, but he signed for a very reasonable wage for four seasons. Also completed the free transfer of a rock solid centreback. Despite efforts to reduce the wage budget and turn a profit, Northampton has ballooned to 49 players. Signing every youth I hear about is more addicting than drugs!
Northampton, as of 13.7.2003
Balance: £568k, Transfer Budget: £190k
Wage Budget: £31k/wk, Current Wages: £24k/wk
The first round of the League Cup was good fun for Cobblers fans. Northampton peppered Darlington with a 22-2 shot advantage en route to a resounding 6-0 victory. Yes, that's a new Northmapton record. Now in the English Second Division, the Cobblers have continued the excellent form they cultivated last year. One of my strikers was again extrodinarly prolific early in the season, and earned September Player of the Month as a result. However, he's been quiet as of late. This year's biggest surprise was a versatile fullback on loan from Manchester City.
Unfortunately, there was a rash of injuries early in the season. My new attacking midfielder and my right winger went down with serious injuries. This resulted in four games now without a goal. Ugh. The poor form continued against tough opponents Oldham, Hull, and Bristol City, ultimately resulting in a 1-2-5 streak. Northampton's league position dropped from 2nd to 11th in this time.
The timely return of my winger from a broken leg was a God-send, providing a much needed threat from the right side. This helped Northampton score 16 goals in three wins. The good form prevailed, as the Cobblers won seven of their last nine games, including a key 2-0 win over Torquay at home. The win over Torquay in the next-to-last league match leapfrogged Northampton over Torquay to the #2 spot on the table. They nearly blew it with an embarssasing 1-4 loss at Chetlenham, but teams #3 through #5 miraculously all tied or lost. In the end, four teams had 83 points, but Northampton's high octane offense had the highest goal differential, giving us the #2 spot and an automatic promotion to Division One.
Profits were notably up, and Northampton to ended over £1M black for the year. My tandem of strikes again had a good year, bagging 26 and 25 goals. My defence conceded a lot of goals at the end of the season, and I have serious concerns about facing Divison One offenses.
Division Two - 2nd, 25-8-13, 83 pts, 86 GF, 48 GA, ±38 GD FA Cup - Ousted in a second round replay by Oldham. League Cup - Ousted in third round by Newcastle in extra time. It was great fun (and great profit) to have a Premiership club play at Sixfields. Vans Trophy - Ousted in second round by Cheltenham
06-16-2005, 06:17 PM
What Kind of Shoe Sponsorship Would Cobblers Have? Post #4
Yay for wage increase and training facility improvements!
Northampton Finances as of 25.6.2005
Balance: £2.01M, Transfer Budget: £500k
Wage Budget: £36.5k/wk, Current Wages: £26k/wk
Forty-nine players still, even after letting some go. God, I need to stop signing every youth with a pulse that's available on a free. And I still have several players under contract that I'd like to move. That didn't stop me from acquiring a handful of players this off-season. Picked up a defender from Sunderland on a free to anchor our defence. Acquired the goalie of our future (hopefully) from bankrupt Hereford. Also picked up some cheap, young depth for our midfield & defence. At least I was pickier this off-season.
Northampton started out in reasonable form, winning as many games as they were losing. By the end of October, the Cobblers were mid-table. Then reality chimed in. Injuries plagued my forwards, especially my old tandem. My recently acquired rotation striker ended up pulling the weight admirably.
Oh, the humanity. Even with my recently promoted striker's heroics, the midfield was unable to control play and the defence was torn to shreds. By Christmas Day, Northampton concluded a nine game winless streak where they collected a grand total of one point. This found them at the bottom of the table, four points away from safety. Oh, and cups suck arse.
The new year was kinder, and slowly Northampton started winning games again. Not many, for morale was irrevocably damaged for the year. Injuries became serious around February, forcing me to bring in a forward & midfielder on loans from Millwall. By year's end, Northampton was 18th in the league, 7 points clear of relegation, and lived to play another day in Division One. My "rotation" striker earned high honors, scoring a Divison One leading and Northampton record 29 goals. My previous tandem of strikers, good for 100 goals the previous two years, scored just 13 this year. Ack.
Also notable was my failed efforts to bring several young players to Northampton. The newspapers & parties involved had a good laugh at my futile negoiating efforts.
Division One - 18th, 16-8-22, 56 pts, 64 GF, 71 GA, -7 GD FA Cup - Ousted in third (albeit opening) round by Q.P.R. League Cup - Ousted in first round by Cheltenham. I don't fare well against them in cups. EPL - Machester United, Arsenal, Chelsea. Same results for the third year running.
06-16-2005, 06:31 PM
What Kind of Shoe Sponsorship Would Cobblers Have? Post #5
Loftus? Bah. Don't write updates late at night, I guess.
Trust me, there's been many times (okay, just the latest presidency) when I wish I wasn't in the U.S. I'll try and read more BBC Sport to pick up proper football lingo. Hey, be happy, I at least call it "football" pretty regularly now.
06-16-2005, 09:35 PM
What Kind of Shoe Sponsorship Would Cobblers Have? Post #8
What Kind of Shoe Sponsorship Would Cobblers Have? 
Hey, be happy, I at least call it "football" pretty regularly now.
, Kallinan :thup:
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