Cambridge United revolution

The return of goalkeeper Krups Jr has been a massive boost to the squad but the coaches came to me after a training session one evening with some news regarding him again. I braced myself for the worst, thinking he can’t be injured again. Luckily it wasn’t such worrying news but the message from the coaches was rather disappointing. They reported back saying there had been some problems in training with the effort he was making and this made me livid. I had to have a word with him, not as his dad but as his boss. I told the coaches to send him to my office before heading home.

Knock Knock

Krupesh: Come in!
Krupesh Shah Jr: Hey dad…
Krupesh: No right now I’m your manager and from now on when we are here you will refer to me as sir/boss/gaffer but never dad!
Krupesh Shah Jr: Sorry boss…the coaches said you wanted a word?
Krupesh: Yeah listen mate they’ve been reporting back to me and you’ve done well to come back from injury and slot in again to the first team but just because you’re miles ahead of any other keeper here DOES NOT GIVE YOU THE RIGHT TO SLACK OFF IN TRAINING. Do you have any explanation for this?!
Krupesh Shah Jr: That’s not fair I’ve been working hard since coming back from the injury.
Krupesh: To be honest what you feel isn’t relevant here because these coaches out there are watching you and right now I trust their judgements! Any more drops in training and effort and you’ll be on the bench! Do I make myself clear?
Krupesh Shah Jr: Yes sir. Anything else you want to shout at me for while I'm here?
Krupesh: Enough with the attitude and just take this on board. You're a youngster with an unbelievable future ahead of yourself. Take it on the chin. Now get yourself home and I’ll see you at home for dinner

It seems the conversation with Krupesh Jr had a good impact as we went on to have 2 draws and then 7 consecutive wins through to the end of the year, with 6 of this wins having clean sheets! These fantastic results have led to us pulling away at the top of the BSP, with a lead of 8 points by 31st December 2012. The positive changes that have happened since the start of the season have seen us score more goals and concede less, with the newer loan stars that had been brought in doing an unbelievable job in keeping the club pushing forward with the wins. At this point in the season, Michael Gash has 15 goals, 2nd in the top scorer chart, Mauro Vilhete with 11 assists (also 2nd in the assits chart) and two Cambridge players topping the average ratings chart after 23 games.



With the January transfer window on the verge of opening, there are lots of rumours whether we will go after more loan deals as some they have now are only three months and the loanees have been the reason the team has been doing so well.

The January transfer window brought in more loan signings for Cambridge United after seeing the great success so far this season with the current loanees. 9 more players joined on loan, with a few players being released from the club to free up the wage costs. With an FA Cup tie against Nottingham Forest coming up, the club were ready to go all out to try and show the footballing world what Cambridge United are all about but unfortunately it didn’t happen as we lost 3-1. I was proud of my boys though, being only one of two BSP sides to make it to the third round. Future progress is vital as the cash really helps the club stay in the black.



The FA Trophy however had a different outcome, with the U’s making it all the way to the final, beating the team that handed us our first defeat of the season 5-2 on the way. The final was against Lincoln, who at the time were in a lowly 17th place in the league. With us touted as the favourite we showed everyone we were capable of living up to the high billing as we came out victors 3-1. By the time this match had come around though we were already the league champions, winning it with 6 games to go and by a total record points haul of 109. We were also top scorers, scoring a massive 105 goals, thanks to the surprise player of the year, captain Michael Gash, who scored 24 goals in the league.

Goalkeeper Krups Jr was also a huge factor in the season’s performance, conceding only 25 goals in 39 games in the league. However, having such a performance made him realise he wants to be playing at a bigger club and came to me with a problem. As his father, it was very difficult to see him say he wants to leave but I managed to convince him to stay for at least one more season, telling him it is my aim to get Cambridge United promoted to League One at the end of the next season. This is going to be a tough ask and will require lots of loan players just like we had last year but once we have some more cash available, we will start bringing in some youth to really build for the future.

Life in the Football League was on the horizon and we were unbelievably excited to get going but we knew it was going to be tough and there was a lot of work to be done in the transfer market. Luckily I was able to hire a new scout and I fired my old chief scout, allowing me to hire TWO new scouts. This felt like heaven for me but that was my first stop. As soon as this was done I had to improve so many areas of the team it was insane. But I had promised my son promotion and to be honest this was not only his dream but mine and the rest of the team.



The chairman put a lot of faith in me and gave me a new 3 year contract which I signed without any hesitation. Winning the BSP and finally being in the football league meant there were more players ready to join the club, whether it was on loan or on a free transfer. The only fee paying transfer was for Johnny Dunleavy from Cork City. We paid a large sum, £100k, for him but I see him being one of our main players this year, especially due to his versatility.

The season tickets update came in and the important difference was that we sold 1000 more season tickets this year than last year, showing an increase in the fans and their desire to come and really support the team.

The pre season friendlies took place and we did okay but really it was just for match fitness and team cohesion so I was never too worried about the results. The bookies put us at 20-1 to win the league, which showed that even though we were just promoted, the loans and transfers put us in the hunt for at least a promotion spot! It was time to get underway in League Two and the first game was at home to Cheltenham. We were then sent away to Nottingham Forest for round one of the Capital One Cup, the team that beat us 3-1 last year in the FA Cup. We knew this was going to be a tough battle again and we got battered 4-1. Progression was never on the cards in this tournament but it was a disappointing performance and I let the boys know that. Luckily they didn’t let this drag them down and went on a great scoring run until the game against Chesterfield. We were absolutely dominated on our own pitch and lost 1-0. It just seemed the boys couldn’t hold on to the ball and was not our best game but hopefully its just a blip and we can push on and keep up with our promotion hunt.



After 5 games, we had won 4 and lost 1 and I was very pleased with our start to the season. Long may this form continue!

Great story and im sure you will get promoted this season or next season.

Congratulations on promotion! Now that you're out of non-league football, things should be much harder! Well it SHOULD, but your start in League 2 is excellent! Keep up the good work

Lovely story so far K1, makes me want to do my own LLM save,but I won't cause I'm not very good at it

Just read it all. Brillant start m8
Keep it up!

i like how you've made your player a GK, most people would make a striker or midfeilder so that they can score the goals to win cups and so on. well done on promotion keep the great work mate

@seds: Thanks for the confidence vote! I hope I get promoted, I made a promise to my goalkeeper that we would to keep him there!

@Arvind: I'm looking forward to the challenge of the football league. This is my first LLM save so it will be interesting to see if my tactics and decisions keep me in the job.

@LJ: Thanks LJ im really enjoying this one and because of the little twist of having my own player in there too it adds to the excitement

@Sonalex: Glad you enjoy it so far

@Mark: I've always been a keeper IRL and I felt I just had to stick to it when I made my player and I always think the goalkeeper gets less hype so he will be the focus of my story as time goes on

Fun read and some good results early on. Noticed that you picked up old FM super star Jari Litmanen on a free transfer.

I know that all the loan deals are a popular way to play when managing in the lower leagues but I find it to take away from the realism.

Still a really good start for a first story and I really like the storyline with the father / son.

Keep going k1rups

2013-04-29 16:05#96257 Northwood : Fun read and some good results early on. Noticed that you picked up old FM super star Jari Litmanen on a free transfer.

I know that all the loan deals are a popular way to play when managing in the lower leagues but I find it to take away from the realism.

Still a really good start for a first story and I really like the storyline with the father / son.

Keep going k1rups

Hmm interesting point about lots of loan deals and I do agree with what you say it does definitely take away from the realism, but I guess I took a lot of that realism away when I started the story with a father/son combination with a created player haha

I think I will definitely try another LLM story one day where I try and make it as real as possible

Litmanen hasnt really done much for me, he's 42 and acceleration is 2 haha but his attacking abilities still give him 4 and a half stars from the coaches

I hope you didn’t take this as a criticism. It was only meant as a comment to different playing styles.

As long as the story is interesting I can live with any kind of unrealism.

Now get back to updating.