My Epic Lincoln City Story

You make very good points, appreciate your feedback.

I'll be doing a write up soon on my Ebbsfleet journey, i might actually start it tonight.

We should have a crack at online games Kiwi, perfect time zone

No worries, while the Championship is a tough league to play, it pays to stay there while you plan your assault on the EPL. You can make reasonable profit if you recruit wisely as Kellerz has done, knowing that while you can recruit EPL class players, you actually want to turn a profit in their purchase, and in turn funnel that money back into the club.

I was stuffed when I got there, once you realise that your finances are stuffed for the year, you may be lucky and keep your job when you get relegated back to the Championship, but your players won't show you any love. There is an old saying (and I don't know where it comes from) "You can be wrong by being right too soon." and I don't know whether with a small club you don't worry about the NFC as you come up, but I really felt it in the EPL, and because of the poor facilities, you can't even dream about a gem of a player being generated at year end to save yourself, and the losses keep mounting until you dream of relegation.

Or at least that was my experience. There is no shame in taking twenty years to climb the ladder, providing you are solid and self sufficient when you get there. I was found wanting and was stiffed as a result.

I've never done an online game Sammymort - it'd have to be sometime between Sunday night through Tuesday because of my hours at work at the moment, but I am keen!

#61689 Sammymort : You make very good points, appreciate your feedback.

I'll be doing a write up soon on my Ebbsfleet journey, i might actually start it tonight.

We should have a crack at online games Kiwi, perfect time zone

#61693 Kiwi : No worries, while the Championship is a tough league to play, it pays to stay there while you plan your assault on the EPL. You can make reasonable profit if you recruit wisely as Kellerz has done, knowing that while you can recruit EPL class players, you actually want to turn a profit in their purchase, and in turn funnel that money back into the club.

I was stuffed when I got there, once you realise that your finances are stuffed for the year, you may be lucky and keep your job when you get relegated back to the Championship, but your players won't show you any love. There is an old saying (and I don't know where it comes from) "You can be wrong by being right too soon." and I don't know whether with a small club you don't worry about the NFC as you come up, but I really felt it in the EPL, and because of the poor facilities, you can't even dream about a gem of a player being generated at year end to save yourself, and the losses keep mounting until you dream of relegation.

Or at least that was my experience. There is no shame in taking twenty years to climb the ladder, providing you are solid and self sufficient when you get there. I was found wanting and was stiffed as a result.

I've never done an online game Sammymort - it'd have to be sometime between Sunday night through Tuesday because of my hours at work at the moment, but I am keen!

#61689 Sammymort :
You make very good points, appreciate your feedback.

I'll be doing a write up soon on my Ebbsfleet journey, i might actually start it tonight.

We should have a crack at online games Kiwi, perfect time zone

Kellerz is Lincoln City though, whilst he has found excellent regens and made profit of them, i beleive Lincoln already have a 15000 seater stadium or close to that mark, Ebbsfleet started with a 4k stadium and only 800 seated if i remember correctly.

It's a massive difference.

It sounds like it will be a most interesting journey for you!! And no one said it would be easy!

#61694 Sammymort : #61693 Kiwi :
Kellerz is Lincoln City though, whilst he has found excellent regens and made profit of them, i beleive Lincoln already have a 15000 seater stadium or close to that mark, Ebbsfleet started with a 4k stadium and only 800 seated if i remember correctly.

It's a massive difference.

Year 8 – Premier League

So here it is, Lincoln city are in the greatest league in the world and this is a total new challenge for me. My aim is to obviously avoid relegation and build from their next year. I was given £20 million transfer budget which was phenomenal but as usual in FM I had to adjust it so it ended up about £15 million.

Transfers

So finally in my eight year I finally was major money to work with. I really don’t plan on spending big on one player as I don’t think my squad are ready for that yet. So this meant I had my scouting network working hard to find the best regens I can find. I really am enjoying finding these regens.

Transfers out

Bjorn Hov Kare
His stats did prove he has potential but was going to need too much effort in training and I didn’t really like his attitude so $300k offer from Crystal Palace couldn’t be turned down, selling him proved to be a unpopular decision with fans and board but I thought it was the right decision for both me and him.

Gavin Thomas
A talented Welsh regen who I couldn’t find space for in my squad and his contract was up, sadly enough he retired from football as I believe he would of done a great job for a Championship squad.

Jan Dubsky
In January of this season I took a risk and sold my keeper as I believed he has reached his level and wanted to make a profit on him.

Nils Jung
As I said in my last update I would only bought him because he was highly recommended by scouts and knew I could make profit on him. I made a £4 million profit after only two league appearances.

Will Keane
A player who I love but sadly really wasn’t premiership quality, I loaned him out to Leeds near the end of the season as I couldn’t get him sold.

Then the rest of my transfers out were loans of my young players to mainly my feeder club Burton Albion.


Transfers in

Pascual Rodriguez

Pacey right back signed from Gimnastic, he was a youth player at Atletico Madrid. Very good signing and proved to be a regular first team player week in week out.

Leandro

After a year of scouting Brazil I began to get some great recommendations and he was one of them, was only 18 when I signed his and has worked hard to get into my first team squad. £2.2 million from Gremio.

David Pereyra

Found this regen in Argentina, a very technical midfielder with great stats, a real quality player who I believe can have a great career in the Premier League. £3.7 million from Xolos Tiguana.

Mickael Torres

Another free regen and another French regen. Great stats for being a teenager having both great stats in passing and technique. I certainly can train him into a great player. Released from PSG.

Yassin El Omari

Another French attacking midfielder who like Torres I know I can make into a star player with the right training regime. Also released from PSG.

Andre Wisdom

My only non – regen who I bought this summer and what a star he is. An English centre back who had played from Liverpool. Good all-round stats and I knew he could defiantly be a good first team player also providing much needed experience in the defence.

Cesar Galan

My star signing this year, A Spanish centre back who I am training to become a centre mid as I believe his stats suit their better. He has great physical stats and great at attacking corners. £6.25 million from Athletic Bilbao, expensive for a teenager but I know he came come a premier league star.

Matej Delac

Another non regen Croatian keeper who I signed in January. This is the reason I sold Dubsky as I seen Delac was a free agent and couldn’t pass him by. I had tried to loan him from Chelsea a few years into my career but he said he wouldn’t play for a small club, quite ironic.

Pascal Nnanna

Another attacking minded player so was offered to by his agent and his stats were too good to turn down. £1.1 million from Malmo.


The screen shots for these players are all from two years on from this season so you can see how they developed.

End of season review

Another season where I had a poor enough start which was to be expected considering I had been promoted and bought a lot of players in but then to my shock and everybody’s began to turn my season around and became competitive. The highlight of my season had to be a win in Anfield against Liverpool. Also I lost to Swansea in the quarter final of the Carling cup in extra time.

So where did I finish this season? 7th with 59 points.

I really couldn’t believe this season as in the second half of the season I became a hard team to beat even against the big teams. My players showed they belonged in this league an example of this was my striker Aleksander Knudsen who notched 21 premier league goals. This season really was a coming to age for my players and they can only improve.
Sadly enough I didn't get Europa League football as Sunderland who finished behind me won the FA Cup. Probably a blessing in disguise.

Lincoln City Facilities

The facilities at my club are quite poor to be honest; I have a good stadium Sincil Bank. It had about 10,000 capacity when I took over which was of the main reasons I chose Licoln as I knew that size of stadium would be big enough for me until this team gets into the premier league. After two expansions it is now a 16,000 all seater stadium. I am half way through my second upgrade to my training facilities and half way through upgrading my youth facilities, as you can see it will take years for me to be able to have world class regens come through my academy.



My mission is to make Lincoln City the best in the world so this includes having the best facilities. It is a hard decision to make when you are giving your budget for the season whether to buy players or expand upgrade your facilities. In my first season in the premier league I think I sold out 97% of my stadium which obviously is the reason my agreed to extend it. My board are very reluctant however to upgrade youth and training facilities but I play the “ how much I have done for this club “card and it always works.

Year 9 Premier League

My aims for this season were varied after such an impressive season in the league last year. I didn’t want to suffer from the usual “second season syndrome” so I knew I still had to improve my team. On the other hand I didn’t want to overhaul my squad because I would have a big transfer squad this summer. I set my season expectations as top half finish which was quite a risk.

Transfers

I had a very large squad and players were becoming unhappy at not playing frequently so I decided to sell them. Two main transfers did pretty much eat up my budget of £20 million.

Main transfers out

Jordan Obita

A legend at my club but his excessive wage demands did not equal his talent so I decided to offer him to clubs and although I was sad to see him go £2.5 million was a nice profit on a free transfer.

Bruno Pilatos

A very average player, who was at my club for seven seasons, wasn’t going to be in my plans for this season and £350k was a nice price on him too.

Eddy Gnahore

Another player at my club since season two with 2 different spells at my club but still he was gradually falling out my first team so I thought it would be best to sell him, another sale im happy with. £1 million transfer fee was pretty impressive specially when a year after this sale he is sold for only 250k.

Will Keane

I was happy that I could find a club for him as he was a player I liked but there is no room for sentiment in my squad, free transfer.

Christos Karatzas
A promising striker but was going to need to much time of training to make him into a first team player so I decided to let him go.

Matej Delac

The goalkeeper had an impressive 6 months at my club but I knew there were better keepers around so I decided he must go. £2.9 million to Middleborough and he managed to have a terrible season.

Pascal Nnanna

I bought the winger a season and a half ago for 1.1 million and sold him for 4.9 million, after great profit. He was a very good player but I couldn’t turn down that offer.


Main transfers in


Jason Cronin

I needed home grown players to fulfil the Premier League requirements and this young striker proved to be a very good signing for me. 1.7 million From Southampton.

Alex Smithies



A blast from the past, I sold him when I was relegated the Championship and he proved to be one of only a few players who I sold that improved. He even got a couple of caps for England which is pretty impressive and I feel quite proud of that. A great goalkeeper signed for 8 million from Burnley.

Bozhidar Metodiev

The biggest risk of a transfer I have taken in this save and I’m not sure if he was really worth the 20 million I paid for him from Brest. But here is hoping he can dominate my midfield in the upcoming years.

End of Season Review

A struggle of a season if I’m honest, the team found it hard to gel and a very bad start to the season meant I was on the back foot straight away. 13 points out of my first 13 games was pretty shocking and I was just out of relegation area. It wasn’t until February when a huge 2-0 victory against Tottenham proved to be my season’s turning point and I went on a great run of form then. My most impressive victory however was on the last game of the season against Chelsea who I managed to beat 2-1.



So where did I finish this season? 11th with 51 points ( only 8 points less than last year but 4 places lower ) A loss to Newcastle in the FA Cup in the semi - final by penalties was hard to take.


After such a poor start I was happy to get this season over and finish in a reasonable position and hope next season can be better and I can have a pretty complete season instead of a good last half.

Kellerz, why do you have to "edit" your transfer budget downwards, and do you mean that you are lessening your transfer budget to strengthen your wage budget?

How are you coping with the Non Footballing Costs, as they drained my finances when I hit the Prem League, although you still seem to have a great knack of picking classy youths on frees and developing them despite your poor facilities. Well done!

I would say that is why he drops the transfer budget to up the wage budget, i do it all the time as well. It also makes you more popular with the board if your wages are well below in the minimum.

Congrats on another solid year in the EPL, i cant see how i am ever going to be able to afford the wages you're offering to your players.

Even in the Championship my max is 8k for a key player.

I like when i search for some freebies at the start of the season and i get my manager to filter out any un-realistic targets, so i offer some contracts to those players and they demand something ridiculous like 30k.... Kevin Nolan wanted 52k per week to play in my team, i said no thanks and he went to Swansea who i beat 3-0 and 2-1... UNLUCKY NOLAN YOU *****

#61856 Kiwi : Kellerz, why do you have to "edit" your transfer budget downwards, and do you mean that you are lessening your transfer budget to strengthen your wage budget?

How are you coping with the Non Footballing Costs, as they drained my finances when I hit the Prem League, although you still seem to have a great knack of picking classy youths on frees and developing them despite your poor facilities. Well done!

Yeah that's what I meant, my board give me £20 million transfer budget but when the bar is put into the middle between wage and transfer budget it is about 14/15 million. I believe you should have about 1/10 of your wage budget left to keep the board happy.

Non footballing costs were £8 million a year last year. I do have poor youth facilities but I do have the best coaches that will come to my club which does help the squad developments.

#61866 Sammymort : I would say that is why he drops the transfer budget to up the wage budget, i do it all the time as well. It also makes you more popular with the board if your wages are well below in the minimum.

Congrats on another solid year in the EPL, i cant see how i am ever going to be able to afford the wages you're offering to your players.

Even in the Championship my max is 8k for a key player.

I like when i search for some freebies at the start of the season and i get my manager to filter out any un-realistic targets, so i offer some contracts to those players and they demand something ridiculous like 30k.... Kevin Nolan wanted 52k per week to play in my team, i said no thanks and he went to Swansea who i beat 3-0 and 2-1... UNLUCKY NOLAN YOU *****

I can relate with your wage problems in the championship, before I signed Steven Caldwell the most i was giving a player was £5k and I offered him £8k. However in the Championship I did tend to switch my transfer budget to zero so had more money to offer free players.

I can relate to the players wanting big wages but my thinking was I don't want one player at my squad earning so much more than the rest of squad.

I would advise you to only buy young regens as their wage demands seem to match their potential.

Came 8th in my first year of the Championship and a win on the final day would have got me into the playoffs, wasnt to be, i lost 3-0 vs Cardiff at home....

However that was probably a good thing, being promoted would leave my club in shambles, so in a hectic transfer window i managed to sell 4 out of 5 of my superstars worth over 2 mil and i ended up getting 12.5 mil in transfers and only signed free agents, so now i am waiting for the board to allow me to speak to them about the facilities again as we now have 14 mil in the kitty, surely an upgrade is priority as i sold out 97% of home games last year....

Cant wait to see Lincoln City holding that EPL trophy aloft mate or even the FA Cup, that would be some achievement.

#62001 Sammymort : Came 8th in my first year of the Championship and a win on the final day would have got me into the playoffs, wasnt to be, i lost 3-0 vs Cardiff at home....

However that was probably a good thing, being promoted would leave my club in shambles, so in a hectic transfer window i managed to sell 4 out of 5 of my superstars worth over 2 mil and i ended up getting 12.5 mil in transfers and only signed free agents, so now i am waiting for the board to allow me to speak to them about the facilities again as we now have 14 mil in the kitty, surely an upgrade is priority as i sold out 97% of home games last year....

Cant wait to see Lincoln City holding that EPL trophy aloft mate or even the FA Cup, that would be some achievement.

Thats good going compared to how I fared in my first year of Championship football. Throughout all my saves I believe that the Championship is on of the hardest leagues to manage in, you have the 3 relegated teams most likely favourites to win promotion and then bar a few other clubs everyone is even.

You should be able to upgrade but beware that you might need some money for transfers in January if you arent doing so well in the league.

Thanks mate, me too. Even though I have been so successful here at Lincoln I only have won two trophy's; league two tittle and St Johnstone Paint Trophy. I had bad luck last season in the cup competitions by losing on penalties in the FA Cup semi-final to Newcastle.

Just read this from the beginning .. Amazing work if you keep going like this you may win the prem in the next 3 seasons
and if you don't mind asking ... what kind of logo pack you're using?

Should have a update on tomorrow night