Fred Fifield

Finally I get to make an update thread. There has been much losing and many, many sackings in Fifieldland as I try to figure this game out. Trolling the tactics threads, testing, trying, and alas, more losing. Regardless of where Frank sent me there would be a great weeping and gnashing of teeth as i found myself continuously relegated and sacked. Having enough of this I returned to the first team I ever played in this game, Bognar Regis, to see if what I had learned could save the Rocks from the sure relegation they get with an AI manager. So with a huge database and only the English leagues selected it was off to the coast I went.

Season One

One of the things I finally figured out was that the first thing I need to do with a team such as this is to get an AssMan and some scouts. I scouted England, Ireland and Scotland hoping to find anyone that would come on a free transfer (no transfer funds) and managed to find some lads willing to go anywhere looking for first team football. Because I started well below budget in wages I was able to manage to sign quite a few youngsters and through lots of trials I found a group that played well together. Somehow I found a striker with good stats who signed on a free in December and he finished with 15 goals. We flirted with promotion playoffs but needing a three goal win on the last day we were hammered 5-0 by Margate and settled for 7th.

2004-05 7th 18-11-13 66pts
FA Cup- lost in 3rd qualifying round to Hinckley
FA trophy- lost in first round to Banbury

Season Two

I sold a couple of good players to get some transfer funds and parlayed that into a decent keeper and two solid fullbacks. The striker I signed last year went nuts with 29 league goals and on the basis of an amazing goal differential I cruised to the Conference South title with three weeks left in the season. This was my best FM campaign ever!! Nearly everyone on my team went up in value meaning that a sale or two could get me a nice transfer kitty as I prepared for my first season in the Conference National.

2005-06 26-8-8 86pts
FA Cup- Lost in first round to MK Dons
FA Trophy- Lost in first round to Aylesbury

Season Three

We're in uncharted territory here. The media flagged me for a certain drop and I agreed with them. Even though I got 100k for TV money and a very profitable second season, my stingy board told me I had to make do with what I had. Since I can now play reserve and U-18 squads I concentrated on filling those up with cheap youngsters hoping one or two would shine. This worked out very well for me as I netted a couple of 17 year old midfielders who ended up on the first team as well as three more that made for good rotation players. I ended up shocking everyone (including me) with a seventh place finish. At one point it was looking like a chance for the playoffs in my first season but fixture fatigue ended up catching up with me as I struggled to find fit players (damn replays!). I experimented with moving some of my reserves and U-18's for matches against the weaker sides but this didn't work out so well. Still, it was an excellent season in my first year ever in the Conference!

2006-07 18-13-11 67pts
FA Cup- Lost to MK Dons in the first round (again)
FA Trophy- Lost to Gravesend in the 5th round.
England wins the 2006 World Cup.

It's off now to season four. This game is much more fun when you win!

bigpants

KUTGW :thup:

Just make sure you stay clear of those tactic threads, they'll make you go blind