My Epic Lincoln City Story

1ST Season - Blue Square

Basically I decided to start a career after about a month of not playing. I wanted a real challenge so I decided to look at the Blue Square Bet league. I decided to go for Lincoln city as I did like their three 3 kits and had a too big of a stadium to be in this league. They had been relegated from league 2 but were still only expected to finish mid table.

Transfers

The team did look rather good for this league but I decided to strengthen areas such as attack and defence.




JAMIE MOLE

Young free agent with sufficient quality for the blue square

FRANCES KERR
Young centre back on loan from Birmingham

MOUNIE EL HAIMOUR

Experienced winger -free agent

PABLO COUNAGO

Quality striker, been at clubs such as Malaga - free agent

GYLIANO VAN VELZEN

Young Man Utd midfielder on loan

EDDY GNAHORE

Centre midfielder with so much talent on loan from Birmingham

End of season summary

I I was remaining mid-table and didn’t look like it was going to be successful promotion challenge. at all until near the end of the season I won the last 11 out of the 16 league games to manage to finish 6th and qualify for a play-off position. I squeezed by the 3 matches and into league two I went.

END OF YEAR TABLE



LAST 16 GAMES PLUS PLAY-OFFs

2nd Season - League Two

I was now in league two and decided to release the players I didn’t use much in my first season as they were obviously not going to get games in an improved league.

Transfers

I depended on loans that I could pay zero per cent towards the wages as I could not afford to pay them. Just like my first season I had no transfer funds but did manage to pick up some quality free transfers.



Lee Robinson

Keeper with some good stats - free transfer from Charlton

Dwyfor Allen
Welsh Regen - decent potential as a striker, Great finishing and strength
Free from Bangor City

Bruno Pilatos

Wing back who can play in many positions - Free from Middlesbrough.

Ryan Edwards

Right winger with good physical stats - Loan from Reading

Pier Larrauri

Young attacking midfielder, came through Bayern Munich youth system - Free agent

Eddy Gnahore

Loaned from Birmingham for another season, really impressed in year one.

Ronnie Minkwitz

Central midfielder with great stats for League 2, free agent - Signing of the season

Jack Stephens

Defender who can play all midfield positions too. Average stats all round - Loan from Southampton.

Lee Brown

Left back, needed to fill the position, mediocre free agent.

David Lynch

Irish centre midfielder with good stats in passing and work rate - Free from Burnley

End of season review

Again I didn’t start the season to well until November. Again I managed to go onto a long streak without losing games, this time it was 26 games without a loss which included an impressive 20 wins. This lifted me first in the league and this is where I would remain.





Not too bad I think, back to back promotion in my first two years at the club and have only had to depend on loaning young players and scouring the free agent market to find gems. I still two or three of the players I had during this season.

Year 3 - League 1

Now league 1 where I thought I rode my luck and was destined to be relegated, again I had no transfer budget so again free agents and loans.

Transfers

I decided the only way I’d be able to make money would be to sign young players and make a profit on them.



Jordan Graham

Teen winger who can play on both sides, great physical stats and has a touch of class - on loan from Aston Villa.

Craig Forsyth

Winger who can play all down the left, decent player - Loaned from Watford

Joe Widdowson

Left back with average stats - Free signing from Rochdale

Jordan Obita

Quality winger who possess the pace to get by most players in the lower leagues - Free transfer from Reading

Adam Reed

Centre midfielder with low wages who only played 4 times for me - Free agent

Sam Mc Mahon

Striker with flair and strength, top goalscorer in League one - loaned from parent club Doncaster

Jack Stephens

Renewed him on loan.

Marnick Vermijl

Right back, acadamey player at Man United, quite a moody player though- Free agent

Tamika Mkandawire

Great working defensive midfielder - free transfer from Millwall

Ahmed Abdulla

Experienced international midfielder with flair and great stats in long shots- Free from West Ham

Miguel Llera

Solid Spanish defender - Free from Sheffield Wednesday

Fraser Kerr

Very solid centre back - Managed to sign him on free transfer after loaning him.

David Davis

Strong centre midfielder with good physical stats - free agent from Wolves

Alex Smithies

Excellent goalkeeper, with great command of area and positioning - Signed mid-season oon free transfer after a trial at Sunderland.
Signing of the season.

End of season review

As usual I had a pretty poor start to the season. But like the great Man United I tend to improve drastically after Christmas which happened.
I managed to secure 6th position again and managed to win promotion again after the play-off final went to extra time against Brentford but I did managed to score twice and avoid the dreaded penalties.

3 straight promotions !!!

I could not believe it but the championship would prove a different task altogether.

Great Effort mate, but i would try and add screenshots and some interesting pictures to your stories, with just writing and saying you got promoted, its very hard for us to get interested in this.

However great job in getting triple promotions, i am currently playing as Ebbsfleet who has a 4000 sized stadium and only 400 seats... I won promotion through a playoff in the first year and then got back to back promotions with a 2nd place finish and i was tipped to go straight back down...

I would be astonished if you could stay up in the championship as you will have no funds and relying on loan players to get you through, whilst thats easy to do in the lower leagues, its a different story in the Championship.

Good luck though

#59533 Sammymort : Great Effort mate, but i would try and add screenshots and some interesting pictures to your stories, with just writing and saying you got promoted, its very hard for us to get interested in this.

However great job in getting triple promotions, i am currently playing as Ebbsfleet who has a 4000 sized stadium and only 400 seats... I won promotion through a playoff in the first year and then got back to back promotions with a 2nd place finish and i was tipped to go straight back down...

I would be astonished if you could stay up in the championship as you will have no funds and relying on loan players to get you through, whilst thats easy to do in the lower leagues, its a different story in the Championship.

Good luck though

Thank you made some changes, hope they make this story a better read

So much better!!!
Great touch by adding players faces, first time i have seen my favourite Trequarista Striker Counago

Still very impressed by getting that 3rd promotion to the Championship in 3 years, i just got Ebbsfleet up to League one and holy hell am i struggling early, 5 games play and i have only managed 2 draws and 3 losses conceding 15 goals in the process and i strengthened my backline as well.

Could be a very long year.

Would love to hear more of the story mate, keep it up.

3 promotions back to back? First time I have seen that happen! Well done. Any survivors from your first year still playing for you? I've seen people overhaul their entire squad when they get promoted, but you have made a reasonable amount of signings. Well done.

What formation have you been using over the 3 leagues by the way?

Ive been using 4231, but since hitting league one i am struggling bit time, anything you might recommend for a weaker team to make a run for the playoffs like you did?

#59722 Sammymort : So much better!!!
Great touch by adding players faces, first time i have seen my favourite Trequarista Striker Counago

Still very impressed by getting that 3rd promotion to the Championship in 3 years, i just got Ebbsfleet up to League one and holy hell am i struggling early, 5 games play and i have only managed 2 draws and 3 losses conceding 15 goals in the process and i strengthened my backline as well.

Could be a very long year.

Would love to hear more of the story mate, keep it up.

Counago was such a hero for my club, his quality did drop though but i decided to keep him on as a coach as the fans did love him.

I dont know how I am doing it but when i get into the second half of the season I go on long streaks of not losing which takes me from mid - table to promotion hunting.

Relegation is sometimes a good thing as it can make the board realise its time to invest money into the club.

I have three more years of this save done, just have to get it up on this.

#59726 Sammymort : What formation have you been using over the 3 leagues by the way?

Ive been using 4231, but since hitting league one i am struggling bit time, anything you might recommend for a weaker team to make a run for the playoffs like you did?

I decided that I wasn't the best team in the league and looked at the top clubs and they all had a 4-4-2 formation so I thought 5 mid fielders would be a good option. I change between what type of 4-5-1 it is.

1. 2 centre mids- one bwm and one bbm, two wingers and an attacking playmaker behind my striker who is a poacher.

2. 3 centre mids - one dlp, one bwm and one ap, two wingers and a target man striker.

3. Either 4-1-4-1 or - 4-4-1-1 as you still have the solid four but have something different from the other teams.

Hope this helped.

Year 4 - Championship

So into the championship I went, I knew this would be a real struggle as still I was given no transfer budget and only giving a few thousand wage budget extra. For a team that came through the play – offs I knew this wouldn’t be enough to build a squad capable of staying in the championship.

Transfers

As you can see I had to get rid of the deadwood in the squad to allow me some money in the transfer market to get some quality loans in. the board did not support me enough though as I was repeatedly rejected wage budget increases.

Matthew Ball

Midfielder with some good stats, never broke int0 the 1st team - New parent club Norwich sent him on loan to me.

Steven Caldwell

Strong centre back, leader on the pitch - Free agent - cost me a lot in wages though.

Eddy Gnahore

Strong technical midfielder - Released from Birmingham, was great to sign him permanently after his two loan spells with us.

Pedro

Experienced verstile Spanish winger - free agent after being released from Murcia

Josh Vela

Centre mid who had some great stats at his young age but never could break into the first team - Loaned from Bolton

End of season Review

Came 24th/ last with 30 points and a total of 10 off being safe. Wasn't competitive at all in this league. I did have a good first team but no strength in depth, highlight of the season was back to back wins

Will have to build a more competitive squad during the upcoming transfer window.

Reality Shock

Wow you are human after all!!!!

Must of been a frustrating season, it could be a good thing coming back down and getting a solid year of League one under your belt again and build up some more cash.

My Ebbsfleet team started to come good last night after about 10 games with the new players and we started to be announced favourites against teams like Leeds who were 2nd. However they beat me 4-1... So i must have quite a solid team, i just dont know how to use them properly.

Looks like you really struggled to score goals in the Championship, worst record by a long shot.

Who were your strikers?

#59843 Sammymort : Wow you are human after all!!!!

Must of been a frustrating season, it could be a good thing coming back down and getting a solid year of League one under your belt again and build up some more cash.

My Ebbsfleet team started to come good last night after about 10 games with the new players and we started to be announced favourites against teams like Leeds who were 2nd. However they beat me 4-1... So i must have quite a solid team, i just dont know how to use them properly.

Looks like you really struggled to score goals in the Championship, worst record by a long shot.

Who were your strikers?

Yes getting relegated was a blessing in disguise as it will show in my next update. It does take a few matches to get the team to gel, that is why i think I am so good in the 2nd half of the season.

I had no strikers of championship quality, my main striker was my young Welsh regen Dwyfor Allen who scored 13 in the league. My next best was Jordan Obita who got only 6 so it shows the support for my striker wasn't good enough. In the championship every team is very even apart from those relegated from the premiership so if your team isn't good enough it will be found out and my squad was.

I have never had trouble scoring goals, i just cant stop conceding and when i do go for a tight defensive setup i just get dominated... So i just go all out attack and try to win 5-4...

I trained Counago to play CAM and that has worked wonders since the early days. Also trained Jamil Adam to play AMR and he thrives in that role.

Next Update Tomorrow