Inspired from other sim threads I'm starting one for CM too. Mansfield Town: I've been blessed with a lot of nice players that my coaches and I like, but my transfer history is not of the best. I have yet to find bring in a real star. Looking back on previous years: First season I did a lot of signing of free players - I didnt really consider them as transfers until I started checking just now. I brought in 8 players for free (and 4 new staff) and the biggest impact is no doubt F LC Ricardo Beckford. He is now 2 games away from 100, and has scored 21 and had 18 assists so far. His best season was last year when he scored 14 goals and assisted 11 with a 7.16 average. He has not been up to par this season so far - 2 goals, 4 assists, 6.91 average, but hopefully he will find his way back in my offense. He is my starting left winger (M L), and has been that since he won during last season. S C Graeme Porter has played in 93 games so far and was a more instant hit than Ricardo Beckford, but he has never been a starter for a longer period. So far he has totalled 17 goals and 9 assists. Others signed the first season remain prospects; Peter Hogg, David Savage, Richard Dell have all tasted some first team ball, and could still find a place in my team, but more than likely their time is running out. Players I had to let go the first season includes GK Kevin Pilkington (£375k), AM L Wayne Corden (Bos) and S C Danny Bacon (free). Top Goalscorers Season 1: Greenacre 15, Bradley 13, Lawrence 13 Most Assists Season 1: Corden 13, Williamson 10, Sisson 9, Disley 8 First Team Season 1: Pilkington Tankard, Hassell, Reddington, Asher Corden, Sisson, Disley, Lawrence Bradley, Greenacre Others often used: Clarke, Williamson, Porter. I looked to promote for much of the first season, but in the end Mansfield dropped to 4th and was forced into the playoffs in which we lost the playoff finals vs Hull. --------------------- Season 2: With 2 starters gone since the first season and Danny Bacon not resigning (he had 8 goals in 13+14 games) I had to bring in new players to replace what was lost to get the promotion I needed. To make matters worse I also sold my top scorer from season 1 in Chris Greenacre (£975k) to have a secure economy (and the fact that he wanted out). 10 players were brought in before the season started to keep my hopes high, the highest fee paid were for GK Gavin Ward that was brought in to replace Kevin Pilkington. I also brought in another GK - Tony Roberts for 50k, none of the GK's were excatly young, but they filled my need. Tony Roberts ended up winning the spot, and have been my 1st choice since. Gavin Ward might be described as a waste of cash. He played a total of 5 games the first season, averaging 6.20. Those 5 games was all he got for me too as he was sold next season for 80k. Tony Roberts was a good buy though - 126 games for me so far - and all 3 seasons he have been here have had an average above 7.14 which he had the first season. F C Vinny Arkins (32) was brought in to replace Chris Greenacre - he came in from Portadown for free. He had a nice season with 16 goals, 7 assists, 7.36 average in 44+3 games before he retired after the season. F C Rory Hamill (27) was also brought in (50k) to strengthen my attack. He ended up playing right winger as Liam Lawrence did a disappearing act. In 123 games since he has scored 41 goals, tallied 18 assists and 17 MoMs. All in all probably my best bargain so far. DM C Marc Cleeland (27) was brought in (35k) to be my defensive anchor in midfield. He had a nice first season with 11 assists and a 7.15 average in 47 games. He has a total of 112 games now. AM C Jeremy Illingworth (26) came in from Altrincham (20k) to give me a real deep midfield. In his first season he logged 8 goals in 28+7 games with an average of 6.97. He now totals 89 games for me. D R Stephen Wenlock (25) from Cambridge (30k) got one full season at full back before I decided to go in another direction. He logged 40+1 games with a 6.68 average, before he was sold for 120k next season. Ryan Maye (D C, 6k) and Kevin McGarrigle (D/M L, 16k) were also brought to give me depth in defense. Neither being very successful, and McGarrigle was sold next season for 100k. The last signing before the 2nd season started was prospect Dan Rownham (D/M R, 16k). He got his first go last season, and has so far this season played 4 games including his first start. The season didnt exactly go as planned and the defense were my biggest problem so I brought in a few extra reinforcements late in the season: D C Chris Walker (27), brought in in february for 20k to strengthen my defense. He got 14 games the first season, averaging 6.71 - he was not the success I hoped for and he did not play much the next season, but this season he has played more as the defense has sucked more than ever, and Chris is doing relatively good. and just before the trade deadline I brought in more players in a panic attempt to save the season. D RL Henrik Kristensen (24), brought in for 10k D C Marcus Lindberg (22), brought in for 150k and my most expensive transfer so far: S C Lee Jones (30), brought in for 350k from Barnsley. Successful or not, I atleast fought myself back in the playoffs (6th), but lost out in the first round, and had to face another season in the Third Division. Top Goalscorers Season 2: Bradley 21, Arkins 16, Hamill 12 Most Assists Season 2: Cleeland 11, Hamill 9, Arkins 7, Williamson 7 First Team Season 2: Roberts Tankard, Asher, Reddington, Wenlock Williamson, Cleeland, Illingworth, Hamill Bradley, Arkins Others often used: Allen*, Disley, Lawrence, Porter, Beckford, Sisson. *) Ged Allen - promoted from youngster setup --------------------- Season 3: After bringing in plenty of players the 2nd season, this season was more for sorting them out and fine tuning. In addition to the players already mentioned I let go off: AM C Michael Sisson -- 100k to Cheltenham (come back Micahel, I miss you now) AM C Craig Disley -- 400k to Nott Forest D/DM C Bobby Hassell -- 24k to Cheltenham my depth at midfield was so deep that I had to let some go - atleast considering that I brought in: D RLC Gary Hodgson -- 40k from Northwich (prospect) M RC Sean McClare -- from Barnsley (Bosman) M C Gary Fisken -- free transfer (prospect) and in the middle of the season I also offered for D/M RC Shaun Derry -- 95k from Reading due to someone else offering, as he was at my shortlist. McClare played in 41+2 games his first season and scored 5 and assisted 6 goals, averaging 7.12 Derry played 18 games for me after joining, mostly as D R, averaging 7.06. He has been moved to midfield this season despite my defensive problems as I think he's better there. Top Goalscorers Season 3: Hamill 17, Beckford 14, Bradley, Jones 13 Most Assists Season 3: Williamson 18, Beckford 11, Hamill 7 First Team Season 3: Roberts Kristensen, Asher, Reddington, Lindberg Beckford, Cleeland, McClare, Williamson Bradley, Hamill Others often used: Allen, Illingworth, Jones Kristensen won the spot left open by an aging Tankard - he averaged 6.72 in 46 games. With Wnelock being sold the D R spot opened up. D C Marcus Linberg often ended up playing there. He averaged 6.62 in 34+3 games. Hamill moved up to attack as Arkins retired, so Williamson moved from left to right wing opening up for the breakthrough season for Ricardo Beckford - he battled Ged Allen for that spot before he won it. Last change were Sean McClare taking the central midfield position beside Cleeland, pushing Illingworth to backup role. Mansfield finally promoted after winning the Third Division. --------------------- Season 4: This season has so far been a "nightmare" in both ends. Attackers have been struck with the injury bug - defenders have sucked worse than ever - some even doing a disappearing act. But luckily I'm still in it and are still confident that I can reach the playoffs atleast. Current situation: Top Goalscorers Season 4: Hamill 12, Lawrence 11, Illingworth 7, Kyle 6 Most Assists Season 4: Williamson 16, Derry 7, Beckford 4 First Team Season 4: Roberts Asher, Walker, Lindberg Williamson, Derry, McClare, Lawrence Illingworth Bradley, Hamill Others often used: Kristensen, Beckford, Cleeland But some transfers have altered the look some: D RC Tim Cole (28), 85k S C Kevin Kyle (23), 130k GK Paul Cuss (25), 18k S C Paul Wheatcroft (24), Loan also brought in 2 prospects for free, Coates and McDonald. Cuss was first in on loan when Roberts was injured for a month, he did ok, so I signed him as I needed a backup GK. Tim Cole, has so far like all my other attempts to sign good defenders failed miserably. The two strikers on the other hand has been monsters so far. Of course they both got injured too, but should be back soon. Bradley has pretty much played himself out of the starting lineup. Comeback of the year: Liam Lawrence - the forgotten one - when I got all those problems with attackers going down he was given the shot up front and he delivered. He also performs good in the new system as the AM C. In fact his old position as M R is probably his worst, and even though I listed him there at this season he has probably played more and better at AM C/S C. My current first team probably is more like this: Roberts Asher, (Walker/Cole/Reddington), Lindberg Beckford, Derry, McClare, Williamson (Illingworth/Lawrence) Hamill, Wheatcroft (Chris Walker is a good runner up for comeback player of the year) Disappering act of the year: Stuart Reddington - where are you? After starting for 3 seasons now he fell totally flat this year. I'm still hoping he can show up again, as I keep using him now and then. Accident waiting to happen: Meca award? - I do not really have a player that go down a lot like Meca (he has been injured 11 times already in the short span for Plymouth), but this season it looks like all my attackers take turn being injured. Up & coming Prospect: Dan Rownham (D/M R) - have big hopes for him. Of course I already have Ged Allen, but he is already kinda broken in, and Dan Rownham (19) is a few months younger. Dan is (IMO) better at midfield (damn) and thats kinda bad as I have a lot of open spaces in D it seems. I have other prospects too, but they have been prospects for a while now, and I'm afraid their time is running out as I can't fit them in the team often enough (Dell, Hogg etc) Wow - this post got a lot bigger than expected - feel free to post your own - and it doesnt have to be as big as this. In fact I will probably post more in this thread as my team/gm history develops - just had to catch up with this post
Luton Town started out promising, but I had more pressing engagements. i.e. the baseball sim. But now that I am back as manager, I am confident this club can turn it around. After a promotion into D2, hopefully my team can jell and make a push for promotion next year. Defense- Nicky Hunt, Martijn Kuiper, and Matthew Wicks hold down the fort on the defensive side of the ball. Wicks and Kuiper are new transfers that figure to drastically strengthen the defense. Hunt is a homegrown product and has shown good promise. Midfield- There are a pelthora of players at midfield for Luton. The best would be Ahmet Brkovic and Aaron Skelton. Brkovic is a forward that is being used as an AM currently. Skelton plays a solid defensive midfielder center, and also serves as the team's captain. Cheli, Rabio Afolabi, Adrian Forbes, and Carlos Fortes will also split the time at the other 2 midfielder positions. These players make Luton's midfield one of the deepest in D2. Attack- The strength of the team lies in its attackers. Namely, Stuart Douglas, youngster Jamie Featherstone, and playmaker Marcus Benson. All of these are young stars who have serious playmaking and scoring ability. With some depth, Luton's attacking unit will be one of the best in the division. Future- We hope to add an attacker, and perhaps a star defender or midfielder. Next year, we will be fighting for a promotion. Go Luton!
