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Visited Frank on the off chance he would send me somewhere active in 2008. Frank handed me directions to Stoke, well, Basingstoke Town anyway.
WWSM08 with 8.0.2 patch
All playable leagues - England, Wales, Scotland, Germany, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, South Korea
Large Database
1st Season 2007-2008
League - BSS
Media Prediction - 14th
Board Expectations – Stay clear of relegation
Bank Balance - $150k in Debt
Transfer Budget - A massive 0
Players in – 5, all loaners for $0k
Players out – 2 for $13k
Summary
Wages over budget and no transfer money forced me to sell some overpaid humpties, and look to the loan market to make up the quality difference. Pretty much a mid-table run all season long but the deficit was almost wiped out due to holding the line on wages.
Final Position - 9th
P 42 W 17 D 8 L 17 Pts 59 GS 85 GC 86 -1
Cup Competitions – We showed up
Board Confidence – Happy – I am beginning to see that they only care about the bank balance.
2nd Season 2008-2009
League - BSS
Media Prediction - 11th
Board Expectations - Mid table finish
Bank Balance - $5k in Debt
Transfer Budget – Still a massive 0
Players in – 7, 6 loaners for $0k
Players out – 6 for $27k
Summary
Brilliant tactics, brilliant loan acquisitions, superlative management, it all came together as we finished the season strong to take third place. Stormed through the promotion playoffs winning all three games and gaining promotion. I am starting to wonder were the challenge is in this game.
Final Position – 3rd promoted via playoffs
P 42 W 22 D 6 L 14 Pts 72 GS 91 GC 51 +40
Cup Competitions – We showed up, again
Board Confidence – Happy – Well, should they not be happy?
3rd Season 2009-2010
League - BSP
Media Prediction - 18th
Board Expectations – Stay clear of relegation
Bank Balance - $150k
Transfer Budget - $43,000.00
Summary
Remember that challenge comment from last season. I think I found it! Two games into the season we were in 24th place, and never seriously challenged for 23rd place. The loaner strategy did not pan out too well this year. At one point we ran off a string of 21 games without a win. It got so bad I had a Johnny Yakusa moment and thought about taking the team out for beer and pizzas. As much as I would like to blame it all on injuries (plenty of those), suspensions, (plenty of those) it came down to the fact that a decent BSS team does not equate to a decent BSP team. Oh, and a not so good manager.
The only worthwhile part of the season were the enhanced revenues which put a solid $600k in the bank.
Final Position – 24th relegated to BSS
P 46 W 4 D 8 L 34 Pts 20 GS 45 GC 103 -58
Cup Competitions – Won more than we lost but lose we did once the quality showed up.
Board Confidence – Not so happy, my job security has gone from Very Secure to Stable
My name was mentioned in connection with the vacancy at Wexham. After this train wreck of a season I saw no reason to pursue that. I did notice my reputation went from obscure to regional over the past three seasons. So now instead of being an obscurely bad manager I am a regionally known bad manager.
As they used to say in Brooklyn, “Wait’l next year”.
4th Season 2010-2011
League - BSS
Media Prediction – 1st (Punters put us at 8-1 for promotion, which just goes to show that people with money on the line tend to show more discriminating judgment.)
Board Expectations – Progress in competitions entered
Bank Balance - $600k
Transfer Budget – Rebuild the team; just don’t let it cost us anything.
Summary
Decided to rebuild with youth while bringing in a few key loans. Acquired a very good DC and striker on loan but some idiot only negotiated three month loan deals. Both refused my extension offer so I had to accelerate my play the kids strategy. The results did not surprise me.
I uncovered from the reserve and under 19 mob a DC, DL, and Under 19 Welsh international who can play almost anywhere along with a promising 18 year old striker. When they were on they were good and when they were off we were bludgeoned, two 6-0 and two 4-0 disasters ruining our goal differential for the season.
We lost to teams we should have beaten but we beat teams we should have lost to. Hovering near a playoff spot all year the youthful inconsistencies finally won out and we finished a respectable 7th. All in all a rewarding season as I felt the team was heading in the right direction and building a solid base for the future, one that should see us compete at BSP level for real in another two or three years.
Final Position – 7h
P 42 W 18 D 9 L 15 Pts 53 GS 66 GC 72 -6
Cup Competitions – Lost the first game played in each, FA Trophy, Cup, and Setanta Shield (and that shield might have come in handy I can tell you.)
Board Confidence – Disappointed with overall progress in competitions entered but happy with my control of the wage budget.
The board won’t talk to me but the leading story in the local paper’s sports section is all about my potential replacement. I think I will just carry on and come 30 June see if I need to renew my lease in Basingstoke.
Oh, and one more thing, Billericay Nobbled the league, running away with first place and will be playing in BSP next season.
Not arrogance, hubris! Come 31 May the chairman offfered me a two year contract extnsion while demanding promotion. I have decided to hang around to see if my youth strategy really will work.
Oh, and to see if we can pass Billericay whilst going in opposite directions.
So far in my only save in FM08 I also found that the jump from BSS/BSN to BSP is one of the hardest ones. I also thought I was going to go straight back down, and it was only the January loanees who prevented that from happening.
Bad finances make it hard to build a good base for survival after promotion. The difference in potential income between BSS and BSP was staggering. My guess is you can build a better base for promotion from BSP than you can from BSS.
A Smoke and a Joke in Stoke 
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