County League - Animo et Fide
Forum Discussion
Ah, now I get it: it's a temporary shake-up of things but nothing permanent. I thought it was according to an American system, with equal conferences and the top teams meeting each other in play-offs.
I've tried something similar by creating the BeNeLeague (Belgium & Netherlands) which is actually a project in the making in real life. Merging them into the current Belgian Pro League in FC24 works best: eight from Belgium (Anderlecht, Antwerp, Club Brugge, Gent, Genk, RUSG, KV Mechelen and Standard Liège) and eight from Netherlands (Ajax, PSV, Feyenoord, AZ, Twente, Utrecht, Sparta and Heerenveen).
However it does leave me with a question mark about the leftover teams. In older games, via the Career Editor, I was able to make a football pyramid, putting one league on top of another and combining the cup tournaments and allocations to European tournaments. But that's no longer possible in the last four or five games. I am still thinking about workarounds.
I've tried a few of these experiments over the years. Belgium and the Netherlands were also subject of one of them, putting them in the German league system, so Ajax, Feyenoord, PSV, Club Brugge etc. were also fighting for the Bundesliga title. It was quite interesting, but I totally agree that the question always comes back with 'what to do with the rest'.
My biggest mixup yet was probably the "capital league", where all teams from capitals around europe were put in the English league system. So we had Real Madrid, Roma, Hertha Berlin, PSG, Copenhagen, Slavia Praha, Sparta Praha, Ajax etc. But European football was totally smashed by this, and that kind of ruined it for me in the end.
But yes, things will probably revert back to normal here, sooner or later. It was just an attempt to do something different with the first season in stead of the board just expecting a promotion and that's it.
- @JustinCase0110 The 4 teams dropping into league 2 are not a surprise.
Given the departures, a play-off place should be within reach next season.
No real surprises in the other divisions, either... - @JustinCase0110
£1.7 million is quite a bit for County to spend at this point in their evolution, but they do seem to be good value signings.
I remember Ferguson signing a young Nick Powell from Crewe; he had great promise, iet was believed, but it didn't work out for him then, but this is different level.
I remember managers like Moyes and van Gaal sending him out on loan, to clubs that mostly didn't play him either, so he never really got a chance.
@CO88LER5 wrote:
£1.7 million is quite a bit for County to spend at this point in their evolution, but they do seem to be good value signings.
I remember Ferguson signing a young Nick Powell from Crewe; he had great promise, iet was believed, but it didn't work out for him then, but this is different level.
I remember managers like Moyes and van Gaal sending him out on loan, to clubs that mostly didn't play him either, so he never really got a chance.I remember him too; "The new Scholes" was he called at some point. He also scored a banger on his debut, but apart from that I never saw anything that suggested him as a Man United player in the long run. In the end he just didn't have it in him.
Value for money, yes I believe so.
Benson, market value £1,000,000, signed for £700,000.
Fletcher, market value £750,000, signed for £500,000.
Leko, market value £775,000, signed for £500,000.
Slattery, market value £1,000,000, signed for free.
I didn't find anything from the loan pool this time. I could have signed more free agents, but I don't want to exploit that market too much. Getting a 1m player for free almost feels like a cheat code already 😃
- @JustinCase0110 It's a difficult one in the lower two divisions.
As I said, the teams rely heavily on free transfers and short contracts, with lots of squad turnarounds at the end of each season. The key for me is making sure that the freebies aren't wildly out of kilter with what the club could expect to sign in real life.
I shipped out the "1 year left" players in my Colchester squad, and plan to do the same again, and it's most unlikely that many replacements will come from the 'paid transfer' category, simply because that's not what Colchester do. Nine out of three - wow!
I just caught up with the history of the club - fascinating - they go up and down even more than Bielefeld in Germany, having spent time across 5 divisions in under three decades!
@Danimal5981 wrote:Nine out of three - wow!
I just caught up with the history of the club - fascinating - they go up and down even more than Bielefeld in Germany, having spent time across 5 divisions in under three decades!
Great, interesting stuff. Wasn't aware of the 5 divisions thing, but I knew about four of them, I suppose. What a rollercoaster ride.
Stockport went up in real life, so anything less this season will be a dissappointment - county system or not 🙂
- @JustinCase0110
Good start, but you've yet to play the bigger sides (Milwall excepted)?
Promotion should happen this year. Thanks guys. Well, it is my usual pattern not to go straight up, but wait until the 2nd season to win the promotion. So it wouldn't surprise me to see this happen again. These seasons are also extremely long with 46 league games to play, so if I'm ever going to the top with this club, then I shouldn't stay in League Two for too long. It's not like I've planned ahead or anything though. We'll see what happens...
A very good start to the new season with 4 wins out of 5 matches played, keeping the momentum will be key to promotion this season
@Legend_Sp1rit wrote:A very good start to the new season with 4 wins out of 5 matches played, keeping the momentum will be key to promotion this season
Thanks man, and welcome to the party. I'll read up on yours in a bit.
Great defensive display: only three against in nine games. Impressive!
That's the one thing still missing in my Bielefeld squad - I cannot rely on my defense and bag a point if I cannot score three.
@Danimal5981 wrote:Great defensive display: only three against in nine games. Impressive!
That's the one thing still missing in my Bielefeld squad - I cannot rely on my defense and bag a point if I cannot score three.
Yes, it's crazy, I rarely concede. My two draws have both been goalless ones, so it's only my midfield and attack, I can expect more from. And especially the latter.
Ironically, my preferred back 4 are positions I haven't changed since starting the game. Knoyle, Horsfall, Pye, Rydel. You'd almost think that the game acknowledges their experience from playing together, making them perform better as a unit now, after playing all those games.
Let's take a moment to appreciate Stockport's impressive run! Despite a setback against Coventry, the team displayed resilience and determination. Great results bar the match against Coventry. The solid display at the back is a testament to the potential for future success. Keep up the great work!!
@Legend_Sp1rit wrote:Let's take a moment to appreciate Stockport's impressive run! Despite a setback against Coventry, the team displayed resilience and determination. Great results bar the match against Coventry. The solid display at the back is a testament to the potential for future success. Keep up the great work!!
Thanks mate. Yes, Coventry game is the disappointment of the season so far, but having just watched their recent performance at Wembley IRL, perhaps it isn't the most surprising opponent to lose to.
Luckily things went better in the other group game in the BSM trophy - update coming up shortly.
