Magician's Dover Saga

January 23 we headed to Wrexham to play them in the Vertu Trophy. We won 3–0 so we are going through.


Diop was in good form recently but he will be out for 6–8 days as he suffered a bruised thigh after landing heavily in training.

Then it was time to play Wycombe and this was another thriller. Overall we have been the better team so winning 4-3 was not a surprise.


Before the transfer window closed I sent backup goalkeeper Vicente Reyes to Dag & Red and backup right-back Federico Colombo to Maidstone on loan to take them off the wage sheet.

All of this for nothing as another report in February stated that we are failing Financial Fair Play again. My plan should have worked if not for the loanees who came back from their half-season loans.


Fulham have decided to make another offer for Finn. This story never seems to end, but while I’m here they will have to pay good money or stop irritating me with these nonsense offers.


Then it was Luton Town on our radar. Doggson was sold to Luton just a couple of weeks back and he was playing in that match. Well, he didn’t help them too much as we won 5–0.


Lucky for us, lower league teams in England can sign players all season long and Dag & Red decided to make a loan move for Marin Zgomba. He is not developing well and he will be out the door when the season ends even though he is only 23.


That is it — finally on 9 February we managed to overcome the financial struggle and the transfer embargo was lifted.



It just happened before our away FA Cup match against Swansea. They are second in the Championship so I expected to lose. But…



Diop was back and he decided to score a hat-trick in 20 minutes.


I decided to control the game since we scored three, but that didn’t stop the players from adding two more.




Just a friendly reminder during the half-time break to make sure we didn’t let this go was enough. But they were hungry and we kept scoring. Eventually the match ended 7–0.


I never expected this, but it is also fair to say that we have been very lucky with the draws this season as so far none of the big teams have ended up in our path.

This cup is all about money and we need it this season more than any other. We cashed out £144k.

Then we got another piece of good news that our fourth-round opponent will be Norwich.




Then we played Bradford and won 2–0. Again Diop was in top form again.


This was our 8th straight win and we were 22 points ahead of Bolton. It looks like we can pull off another promotion. Why I’m not surprise.

IMPORTANT
The game crashed a couple of times. These are the results from the first simulation.

I played Millwall and in the first simulation we won 2–0, but the game crashed during the Mansfield match.

Because the last save was from before the match, I had to play it again. In the second simulation we won 3–0.

After that we drew 2–2 with Mansfield and then won 2–1 against Leyton.

We then eliminated Norwich on penalties in the FA Cup and played Bolton. We were winning 1–0 when the game crashed again.

At that stage I thought it might be a skin issue, so I verified the game files and switched back to the original skin.

Later I learned the problem was actually caused by the assistant manager leaving for West Brom, and the developers had to release a patch to fix the assistant manager bug.













THIS ARE FINAL RESULTS
Our next home match was against Millwall. We conceded first but quickly equalized, and four minutes later we scored another. Then we scored a third in the 94th minute. Overall, it was a well-deserved victory.


Injuries are a problem this season and this time Mike Aidoo will be out for 1–2 weeks. It is a bit of a problem since we sold Dodgson, who was the only backup able to cover both wing-back positions.

We then travelled to Mansfield and won again. This time it was 3–1. This win got us into the play-off spots. We were already 25 points clear of second Bolton.


We added Landon Emenalo to the injury list as he is out with a calf strain for a couple of weeks. It wasn’t good news, but at this point we received a message that Bolton had dropped points and that meant we were going to be promoted to the Championship.


John sent me a message on the 27th of February saying that he is setting new budgets since we got promoted.


When all the excitement settled down we were back on the pitch to play Leyton Orient. We quickly scored four goals and the match was effectively over. They did get a goal back and created chances in the second half, but we defended well enough to get a 4–1 win.


Oh, another injured player joined the injuries club. This time it was James Scanlon, out for a couple of days with a tight groin.
For the first time in months we received a monthly financial update which stated that we comply with Financial Fair Play.

On top of that I got the award for Manager of the Month. A good reminder of how well my team has been playing.


I have organized a small celebration for the players after promotion by taking them to a restaurant. Well, I may have taken them there, but John was paying for it.

I used that opportunity to talk a bit about our upcoming game with Norwich. They have been sitting in 10th position in the Premier League, but their squad doesn’t have much better players as us so I would say they can be beaten.

While we were enjoying the meal there were matches being played, and it turned out Bolton lost again. That result was decisive and made us champions as well.


When it came to the Norwich match I could not use some of the injuries players as well as Iu Martínez who was suspended.

That didn't stopped us from wining it. We scored a goal in the 54th minute thanks to Finn and then switched to control mode. It turned out to be enough and we are going to the next round. This also resulted in extra cash, and this time it was £270k. More money, fewer problems.




After beating Norwich we had to play Bolton in the Vertu Trophy. The match ended 1–1 but we lost on penalties.


I thought we should win this, but our concentration dropped and they scored a lucky goal in the 86th minute, giving them the draw. Penalties are often a lottery so I try to avoid it at all cost. This time the luck was on their side.
It would have been nice to win a cup, but I guess we have been doing so well in the league that I couldn’t be angry with the players.

Four promotions and four championships in four years – it’s quite an achievement.

But we still have games to play this season and the next one was a big one, as we were facing Richard „Dickie” Dunne’s Blackburn. I know what you’re thinking: it’s going to be another rivalry. But I have to tell you something.

Dickie called me after my episode on Gary Neville’s podcast and we had a chat. He said that he was wrong to call us an easy opponent and that we have shown on the pitch that we are an extremely well-oiled machine defining a new standard in the league. He apologized again and said we should patch things up and move on.

He even made the same statement in one of his post-match interviews, so it wasn’t just empty words.

Obviously we’re not going to become best friends, but I’ve gained his respect.

The match with Blackburn started with a tunnel for our team. I guess Dickie wasn’t joking and really wanted the rivalry to be forgotten.


As for the match itself, we were rusty and couldn’t find a goal. They scored first, and it took us until the 91st minute to get the equalizer. Not an ideal performance, but a friendly reminder that we’re not untouchable.


The reason for the players underperforming could be fatigue. I sent some of them for two days off, as we will be playing against Millwall F.C. in the FA Cup shortly.


We then played Notts County at home and again we started poorly. We conceded first again, and it should have been two if they had scored the penalty. As always, a “friendly reminder” to the players about their level of performance was enough, and we came away with a 3–2 victory.


Walsall F.C. were our next opponents. Because of our upcoming FA Cup clash against Millwall, I decided to make changes to the line-up. Well, I mostly played backup players – but that was still enough, as we beat them 2–0. We had 15 shots on goal while they had only one.


Then, on the 1st of April, we received a financial summary stating that we are not compliant with Financial Fair Play. It must have been an April Fool’s joke. How can we not be compliant if I have literally done everything to keep spending under the limit?


In the match against Millwall we were dominant and won 1–0. Progress has been made, and that is important. What’s even more important is that we got £540k for reaching the quarter-final.




Then it was time to face Wrexham. Matches against them are like movies – full of drama. This time we came from 2–1 down to win 3–2. I guess that’s not the ending they expected, but my players were more clinical.




The next episode includes six game played matches. The game time is about one hour – although I will try to make it shorter. For those who don’t want to watch the whole episode, I will also upload a written version.

If you want to see any other game screens, write it in the comment section and I will try to include them.
The video episode is without narration. As I’ve said many times, the video is part of the story – not the other way around.

On the 10th of April we travelled to Burton Albion for a league match. They are bottom of the table, so for us there was only one acceptable outcome: a win. The players delivered. This time there was no drama — just control and efficiency. Eleven shots on goal, 3.92 xG, and the job done.


Four days later we were away again, this time at Sheffield. It was a tough match, but the team showed character and we came away with a 3–2 victory.


Then, on the 18th, it was time to face Bolton. A rollercoaster of a game, but once again the winning mentality of this team was clear. We had only four shots on target — and we scored four goals. That is football. Sometimes people talk about beauty; I talk about efficiency.


Unfortunately, Edan has been injured, and this will be a problem as he was in very good form. He will be out for the rest of the season.

Finally, it was time to play Crystal Palace in FA Cup. I tried to make it competitive, but sometimes the mountain is simply too high to climb. Their pace was simply too much for us. If Raimondo had scored that penalty, maybe the story could have been different.


This cup was never really ours to win — but it was important for the prize money. We desperately need the financial support if we want to continue progressing next season.

On the 25th, Gary’s team travelled to Dover. Gary was already annoyed because Salford were not going to be promoted, so even a win would not change anything. If you remember our last away match there, their fans were loud and energetic. This time they were much quieter. Meanwhile, our supporters had something to celebrate — back-to-back promotions. A tifo banner had been prepared for the occasion.


They have also been singing a new chant that goes like this:
Four in a row!
Dover on the go!
Championship now—
We run the show!

We scored 4 goal in the first half so I switch to control mode. During the half time break I told the players to relax a little. I did not want them to embarrass the opponent.



As for Gary himself, he showed a bit of class after the match. He spoke to our players and told them how lucky they are to have a manager like me. I won’t be arguing with that—it’s rather obvious I’m the mastermind behind Dover’s success.

Our final match of the season was against Plymouth. On paper it should have been an easy game, but football is never that simple. In the first half they matched us in the statistics and caused some problems. In the second half I have nade coule changes, and that decision completely changed the match. Three goals later we had a comfortable 3–0 victory.


And that was the end of the season.

At the beginning, I was very skeptical. The financial problems made everything more difficult than it should have been. But somehow we managed it. Now we will be playing in the Championship next season.

The numbers speak for themselves: only one defeat, six draws, and thirty-nine wins. The lowest number of goals conceded and the highest number scored.

People talk about “meta tactics” as perfect systems. I do not believe in that.

For those who red the first episodes of this story, you already know the philosophy:

It is always about effectiveness, not perfection.

Variation style over meta exploits.

Progress is measured by winning matches. That is the only objective.

For those who are skeptical that it only works in lower leagues, here are a couple of screenshots from my Talavera save.

Hello everyone,

I have decided that the Dover story will end here for now.

The recent situation with MrTimi made me reflect on a few things.

I believe that not everything people post should be considered abuse. There should be room for constructive criticism.

However, I have noticed that many people download tactics and other add-ons, but very rarely acknowledge the work that goes into creating them. Often, the only time some users comment is when they encounter a problem or when an update is delayed.

When I created this story, my goal was to build something for the community and encourage engagement. I tried several things to involve people and make them feel part of it, but unfortunately it didn’t work. I even created anonymous polls so people could participate easily, yet most still chose not to engage.

I don’t know whether this is a generational issue or simply a reflection of how people interact online today, where many only speak up when they have something to gain.

I was raised to believe that if someone asks a question, you try to answer it. If I don’t know the answer, I will say so openly, because no one can know everything.

What bothers me the most is the ignorance factor. The mentality of taking from the community without giving anything back. It is painful to watch.

Thank you to those who supported the story along the way.

so sorry to hear this
hopefully you'll do more content in the future
stay safe n take care

Thanks.

I will continue the save for now, as I actually enjoy the challenge and hardship at times.

Before deciding whether to pause posting here, I’ve added a link to the SI forum to see if I can get any feedback there. We’ll see if anyone responds. Depending on the feedback, I might rethink whether to continue the story at a later stage.

ur most welcome buddy
look forward to seeing more