Football Manager Stories

If the site owner will allow, I plan to update this thread regularly, as I know there are other members play the game and might be tempted to share their games too.  It won't be an outstanding story driven thread, just details such as players signed/released, match results with scorers, position in League, updates on any promising youngsters, etc.

So I ran the fist season 'on holiday' and we finished a credible 9th in League 2.  Surprisingly, JMD was the top scorer with 11 goals and also top in assists, again with 11.  Michee Efete had the highest average rating of 7.06. We have some big holes to fill with Smith, McAtee, Richardson and Pepple all returning to their clubs after the loans were completed.

The date is 1st June 2023 and I am about to start getting a squad ready to make a concentrated effort to get promoted to League 1 at the end of this season.

I’m looking for a good football manager game…….
Don’t want anything too complex but something that makes you think…..like PH ?
Is this FM23 any good and will it play on an I Pad?

I play FM 23 mobile... I got Taunton promoted and now sat in 10th place struggling.. couple of strikers I had on loan last season bagged 25+ each!

Quoted from Epworth Mariner

I’m looking for a good football manager game…….
Don’t want anything too complex but something that makes you think…..like PH ?
Is this FM23 any good and will it play on an I Pad?

It should play on iPad, yes.

Nice one lukeo, I play on PC and watching the match played out in 3D is really good.

Quoted from 123614

If the site owner will allow, I plan to update this thread regularly, as I know there are other members play the game and might be tempted to share their games too.  It won't be an outstanding story driven thread, just details such as players signed/released, match results with scorers, position in League, updates on any promising youngsters, etc.
.

Pleased you have started playing the game. Ive been playing the game for ages and love it . Ive got a copy of fm23 but still only in pre season as I haven't had much time to play due to other commitments.

Quoted from Epworth Mariner

I’m looking for a good football manager game…….
Don’t want anything too complex but something that makes you think…..like PH ?

Football manager is quality . Its very detailed but you can assign stuff to the assistant manager and coaches which makes it less hands on if you so wish.

Don't tempt me to go big and get it on my PC. I have got a season with town but stuck in mid table and decided to do Taunton instead.

Quoted from lukeo

Don't tempt me to go big and get it on my PC. I have got a season with town but stuck in mid table and decided to do Taunton instead.

Get it on the PC Lukeo its so much better on there than on the tablet. I had a short stint two years ago when I started playing it on my mobile and it was nothing compared to the immersive experience playing it on a laptop  brings.

Quoted from Rick12

Pleased you have started playing the game. Ive been playing the game for ages and love it . Ive got a copy of fm23 but still only in pre season as I haven't had much time to play due to other commitments.

I think you misunderstood me, I have played every version of this game, Championship Manager/Football Manager since the very first game cane out back in 1993

Pre Season 3rd July 2022.

Squad returns from their holidays, without Taylor, Scannell, Pearson and Coke, who have all retired from playing football.
This season we will be playing a 5-2-2-1, 3 CB's, 2 wingbacks, 2 sitting centre mids, 2 attacking mids with a lone striker.

We are light on strikers, and at LWB position, and Centre Back.  I currently have scouts out looking for replacements.

I have already signed a young 20 year old striker from Derry City, Cian Kavanagh, who will be joining us on 1st January 2024.  His stats are very good, and he is considered to be almost ready for a first team start.

Several staff position have been filled and our main staff members, Dave Moore, Neil Woods Chris Doig, Graham Rodger and Steve Croudson have all signed new contracts to stay at the club.

We have plenty of Pre Season friendlies to play, so I will report in after they are done.

Non football 😃

Can I be the first to say 'cdajatl' on this thread re the Irish striker you mentioned.

These games have their place but I prefer, er... I mean my kids prefer lego star wars, madden (nfl game) or even Fifa, as long as I can play as gtfc.

How long until the Town fans are calling Kavanagh "Kavanaghs"

Quoted from 123614

Several staff position have been filled and our main staff members, Dave Moore, Neil Woods

Pleased they have been kept on.  Good  people who do the club proud    .

Quoted from Epworth Mariner

I’m looking for a good football manager game…….
Don’t want anything too complex but something that makes you think…..like PH ?
Is this FM23 any good and will it play on an I Pad?

On the iPad there’s a version called fm touch which is a bit of a slimline version and very good playability it’s included free if you subscribe to Apple Arcade

Quoted from Rick12

Pleased they have been kept on.  Good  people who do the club proud    .

oops, not sure what happened there, but yes they have been kept on with new contracts, as have Graham Rodger, Chris Doig and Steve Croudson, Paul Hurst is still the Manager.

Quoted from 123614

oops, not sure what happened there, but yes they have been kept on with new contracts, as have Graham Rodger, Chris Doig and Steve Croudson, Paul Hurst is still the Manager.

To clarify though Bear the game try's to mimics real life . Hence if your not happy with your coaches and assistant manager you can choose not to renew their contracts as in real life. As manager of Grimsby in the game  I've been busy of late( in real life) and so  during my pre season games Doig is doing the selections.

We're gonna need at least 17 pages of Bogle speculation in here to make this feel realistic.

Last time I played was the 2020 edition. True to life we had a takeover during the season, rather than being relegated we where promoted though. We had a second takeover (by a mad Italian fella) a few years later when we where in the Championship, he bought a couple of Italian players and insisted we played them.

The hardest bit about playing as Grimsby was all the training and youth facilities had to be upgraded annually, by the time I had proper Premier League training facilities I’d already won it twice and had 100’s of millions in the bank.

I really enjoyed playing it but it is far too addictive! I only managed to plant it as it was something to do at 3am whilst trying to settle the baby,  

Quoted from Son of Cod

We're gonna need at least 17 pages of Bogle speculation in here to make this feel realistic.

😄.Yes .

The thing is, I have already acquired a former Town defender whose name will be released along with my other signings so far.  Who might it be?

9th July 2022

Signed 21 year old Alex Gilbert on 1st July with a 3 year contract.  He is an AML but also an accomplished Striker.  His bio flatters to deceive, having started his career with a 2 year stint at WBA but made no appearances for the club, he was then signed by Brentford on a 3 year contract but again was not picked for the 1st team.  However he had very good stats, evenly balanced across the board, and I admit to taking a bit of a chance on this one.

My next signing was a utility player, 21 year old Kyle Munro, signed from East Kilbride for the sum of 9K.  He is a Natural at LB, LWB, LM and an accomplished AML.

We played our first pre season friendly at Blundell Park against Kings Lynn and beat them by 5-1.  Goals from Holohan (3), JMD and Wearne..  Holohan's hattrick was scored in the first 11 minutes of the match.

New signing - 28 year old Striker Chris Long, signed on a free from Crewe.  Not a prolific scorer but 45 from 248 appearances is ok by me for a back-up striker.  He is also accomplished at AML and AMR.

Signed CB Ro-Shaun Williams, who is 24 years old, from Doncaster Rovers for the sum of 3.3k.  I hope to see him holding down a regular starting place in the First Team Squad.

Another who could make himself a spot in the First Team Squad is 24 year old Morgan Feeney, who joined the Mariners on a 3 year contract from Carlisle for the princely sum of 140k!  Another CB who should make the First Team Squad.

Our next pre-season game was on 12th July 2022 home to Salford!!  We were victorious with the only goal scored in the 80th minute by new striker Chris Long.

Next game was away at Kidderminster, and we came home with a comfortable 2-0 win, both goals scored by Chris Long.  Wearne was injured in this match and will be unavailable for around 9 days.

18th July 2022.

We entertained Liverpool U21's in a friendly fixture and lost 2-3.  Waterfall and Gilbert were Town's scorers.

The latest signing was the 29 year old, former Town Defender, Elliot Hewitt, who joined on a 2 year contract from Mansfield.

That's all for now folks.

29th July 2022

A late goal denied us a win in our latest friendly against Morecambe.  We drew 1-1 with Long, again being our goal scorer.

2nd August 2022

Beaten 2-1 at home by Cambridge United, Waterfall heading in from a perfect corner by JMD.

5th August 2022

Our last pre season friendly saw us get a late equalizer away at Forest Green, again an excellent corner from JMD was met by the head of Maher to save the game for us.  

Overall not a bad pre season, but some questions still need to be answered.  Long will be our starting striker, though he is going to need a partner as I have decided to change formation to a 4-4-2, not being happy with the current formation.

I need another proper CB as well as another RB, as I cocked up signing Hewitt, he is not good enough for League 1.  So scouting will continue as I also want to bring in some youngsters (15-18 years old}, to see if I can find the proverbial 'wonderkid'.

Onwards and upwards!

Not sure if you're still going but 1st season is tricky.. finished 7th but 2x 0-0 draws and lost on pens in playoffs. Signed a FB/wb dasilva from somewhere plays either side and Marcus Madison for set pieces. Just started 2nd season won 9 drew 2 so far. Signed Smith from hull, Harry smith, Timmy Abraham, lad called Thompson (16 pace can't finish but 7 goals so far) 3 or 4 others I'll name when I'm back on pc including a bpm of some quality. Chadwick from hull is good so far as left side IF.

Yes I am still playing, but have started a new save.  After getting sacked in the last save, ( I went on holiday with the starting squad for 22/23 season), I decided to get rid of all of our released players, and the others I had brought in and basically start from 1July 23, adding all our new signings using the in-game editor, as I can't be arsed to wait until October to play with our new squad.

I have included Harvey Cartwright in the squad as several people are sure he is coming, even if the announcement is a bit slow.  Currently all the new signings are in the team with the retained players.  Many of our youngsters have been taken on loan by various lower league clubs, including Essel, Boyd, Tomlinson, Braithwaite and a few more I can't bring to mind atm.

So, I intend to try and keep this fairly regularly updated.  FYI, the in-game editor will not be used for anything else except to add any new, IRL signings to the squad.  I play most of my matches in 3D set to comprehensive setting to watch the game.  I find it more realistic that way.

I have already played a few pre-season games, which I will post about pretty soon.

Our first pre-season game was home to Kidderminster Harriers on 9th July, which we won 4-2.  Rose (2), Wilson and Amos were the scorers. I am playing a 4-2-3-1 system, with the fullbacks role as WB, the 2 in the centre of the park are a DM and a DLP.  The 3 consists of 2 Wingers and an AM with the lone forward with a role of DLF.

Our next game was away to Dartford on 15th July which we won 4-0.  Wilson, Khan, Rose and Efete were the scorers, and we had 3 players booked.  Abo Eisa came close to being our MoM with a rating of 8.8 after coming off the bench to provide 2 assists and 1 Clear Cut Chance.  Khan was MoM with a rating of 8.9.

Our third friendly provided as bit more of a test as we entertained Mansfield Town at home.  It took us till the 67th minute to open the scoring, Holohan being the scorer, and Donovan Wilson rounded it up with a 95th minute goal.

Our next game is away to Bromley on 29th July.  I'll be back!

Quoted from 123614

Our next game is away to Bromley on 29th July.  I'll be back!

Nice updates Bear. Been busy with other stuff as of late so not really playing the game. Just reading how your getting on is making me want to continue where I left off with Grimsby 3 months back albeit still in pre season 😉🙂.

Quoted from Rick12

Nice updates Bear. Been busy with other stuff as of late so not really playing the game. Just reading how your getting on is making me want to continue where I left off with Grimsby 3 months back albeit still in pre season 😉🙂.

Thanks mate, I m devoting more time to playing FM now, so I thought I would carry on with this little thread.  

So a small update on staff.  First of all, JS and AP are no longer at the club!!  There was a takeover, which I could do nothing about so we have new owners.  They have increased my transfer budget to about 700k and also increased my wage budget.  Other non player news is that  Giles Coke and Shaun Pearson have left the club, replacements have been sought after, and found, and are now under contract.  Joe Hutchinson and Graham Rodger are still at BP as are Chris Doig, Neil Woods, Greg Howard and Steve Croudson.  All the Analysts have been let go and replaced with better and last of all, Paul Hurst has been replaced by me.  

Currently we have one medical casualty, Charles Vernam who has a thigh strain, which the medical staff say could keep him out for 9 days - 3 weeks.

Interestingly, Joe Hutchinson has just mentioned a GK, Richard O'Donnell from Rochdale, who several people on TheFishy have said we are interested in signing him.  He comments that he is 'not good enough' and should only be signed as a last resort!  However his stats are pretty much average for League 2 and Hutchinson goes on to say that he is a 'Consistent Performer'.  Not quite sure what to do with this one, will have to think on it.

Saturday 29th July 2023

Bromley 1-1 Grimsby Town

A fairly drab game ended up in a draw after a major error by keeper Harvey Cartwright caught rushing out for a through ball he was never going to get.  My MoM was Danny Rose who led the line well and scored our goal just after half time.  It was noticeable how good he is in the air on a number of occasions when leaping high to flick on headers against opposition players who were several inches taller than him.

In other news, Gavan Holohan is attracting attention from some obscure Australian A League team, Macarthur FC!  Burton Albion are looking to sign Michee Efete and Luke Waterfall has said he will be considering his options at the end of his contract.

Saturday 5th August 2023

AFC Fylde 0-6 Grimsby Town

A first half hattrick for Danny Rose, and goals for Gavan Holohan, Alex Hunt and Danilo Orsi-Dadomo sealed an excellent win for The Mariners in their final pre-season friendly

In other news, GTFC announced that a total of 5499 Season Passes have been sold to date.


Saturday 12th August 2023

Start of EFL Two 2023/24 Season

The new season saw us start off with a Home fixture against Newport County, with former Town favourite Omar Bogle in their starting eleven.  By halftime we were 2-0 up with goals from Gavan Holohan and Danny Rose on his debut.  Wilson took a knock in the first half and was substituted by Eisa at HT, who took his place on the left wing.  We had almost total control of the 2nd half and should have scored more but for some fine saves by the visitors keeper.  I shut up shop on 75 minutes and replaced Holohan with Khouri, forsaking the AMC position and dropping him back to Centre Mid.  Both Rodgers and Mullarkey were blowing hard and were replaced by Waterfall and Maher.  Just to be extra careful, I brought on Kieran Green for Clifton and we coasted the last 15 minutes to earn our first 3 points and clean sheet of the season.

Danny Rose again won many headers against taller opponents and mostly found a teammate with his flick-ons.  My MoM was Gavan Holohan who was busy the whole game, making good runs into the box and out wide too, as well as scoring a fine goal in the first half.

Tuesday 15th August 2023

EFL Cup 1st Round

Harrogate Town 1-1 Grimsby Town (4-5 pens)

Danilo Orsi-Dadomo played the part of super-sub for The Mariners came from behind to defeat Harrogate Town on a fine summers evening at the EnviroVent Stadium.

Left winger, Paul Glatzel gave Harrogate the lead with a free kick into the bottom corner from the edge of the area in the 34th minute.  Grimsby Town's equaliser came through Danilo Orsi-Dadomo as he seized on Will Smith's mistake to score with a well placed shop into the bottom corner of the net.

In the shootout that followed it turned out to be a heartache for Harrogate Town as wing back Jaheim Headley missed the final penalty


Keeper Harvey Cartwright was MoM after pulling off several fine saves to keep Town in the game.


We have been drawn at home to Sutton United in the EFL Cup 2nd Round.