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AFC Bournemouth, an Alternate History


senorsoupe

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Inspired by C. Muir's Man City thread and randomGuy's St. Johnstone thread, I have decided to install the old FM09 (called Worldwide Soccer Manager 2009 on this side of the pond) and start a save, the team I have chosen is AFC Bournemouth who have yet to appoint Eddie Howe (and have gone with me) and start on -17 points, can I rewrite history and build Bornemouth the way Eddie did?

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So I am starting on minus 17 points, but fortunately so does Rotherham and Luton are down 30!  Regardless my board expects me to finish in the top half and I have very little wiggle room in terms of a wage budget.  Oh and my only experienced right back is injured...

Here is the squad, some names people may recognize, not a very balanced side with very few wingers and tons of strikers so I am probably going to try a 4-3-3 before it was cool

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Edited by senorsoupe
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IIRC from my Man City save, Luton have a good squad in that for that level and ended up staying up despite the -30. Will double check next time I'm playing Man City save.

Fair play for doing that as a start save, in at the deep end! :lol:

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Well bugger, I had forgotten to change it to save every week and it crashed in the middle of pre-season so I have lost my progress, anyways I was about to sign Paul Paton as my right back who for some reason is a free agent

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I'm probably not going to do a match by match but will definitely go month by month.  

Meanwhile pre-season didn't get off to a good start but it finished well and there was plenty of optimism going into the start of the season

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Only made one signing so far, the aforementioned Paul Paton but am looking to see who else I can afford, I have very little money

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Season started poorly with a 4-1 horsing at the hands of Wycombe, new signing Paul Paton had an absolute shitemare.  Followed that up with an encouraging first half against Brendan Rodgers' Watford in the league cup only for it to collapse in the second half.  Third game saw me blow 3 leads to only come away with a point at home against Notts County.  Between the Notts game and the Barnet game I was able to sign veteran goalie Paul Gerrard who seems to have made a big difference as my defence was much more solid after that.  A solid win over Barnet was followed by a visit to Chesterfield where 18 year old sub Joe Partington grabbed me a late winner.  

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Oh and Chesterfield have an interesting new signing

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Here is the table at the end of August

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12 hours ago, C. Muir said:

IIRC from my Man City save, Luton have a good squad in that for that level and ended up staying up despite the -30. Will double check next time I'm playing Man City save.

Fair play for doing that as a start save, in at the deep end! :lol:

Just checked. Luton not only stayed up, they got fucking promoted! :lol: Not as much luck for your mob. Good luck!

image.thumb.png.fd2e4a1bf6d41bbbd13897a036422e9f.png

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4 hours ago, C. Muir said:

Just checked. Luton not only stayed up, they got fucking promoted! :lol: Not as much luck for your mob. Good luck!

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Fortunately Luton are just as inconsistent as I have been so they are well behind me, I'm more worried about Rotherham who have been strong, I need to overtake at least one non-points deduction team.  

September has been up and (mostly) down.  Started with a good performance in the JPT, only to lose on penalties against League One Northampton, that was followed by a good start against high flying SHrewsbury only to be undone by a Grant Holt brace in the second half.  A loss at Morecambe was followed by a brilliang 4-0 skooshing of Lincoln which I had hoped to be a springboard to success but the next game we were generally shit and lost 2-0 at Port Vale

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Here is the table, I think Macclesfield will be my target

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October

An inconsistent October still leaves me in the drop zone but I have managed to at least get into positive figures points wise.  Started with two draws, one against Bury where I absolutely dominated but couldn't score and a second against cruising Rotherham where I was under the cosh for most of the game but still managed to get some points.  It was a tough run of fixtures with most of my opponents being either in the playoff/promotion hunt or on playoff/promotion form (Rotherham) so the wins over Bradford and Gillingham were very nice!  Ended the month with a gut wrenching loss at Luton but games against shite teams like Macclesfield (my target), Chester et al are on the horizon so if I continue this form I have a chance of being out of the drop zone by Christmas.  I'm on pace to end the season with 42 points which just isn't enough, if I can move my points per game ratio to at least 1.4 (currently at 1.29) then I reckon I'll be comfortably safe as a 1.4 would see me end the season on 47 or 48 points.  

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Edited by senorsoupe
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November

Going unbeaten all month has put me within sight of safety.  Started with a good point at Brentford before winning in the cup at home.  Back to back home league wins, including a 4-0 win over relegation rivals Macclesfield and against league leaders Rochdale were followed by yet another draw on the road, I need to start winning away games.  I finished the month with a 4-0 demolition of Stevenage in the cup to set up a third round tie with Sheffield Wednesday.  Marvin Bartley's return from injury has been key to my success, the midfield trio of Bartley, Mark Molesley and Anton Robinson have been phenomenal.

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On the signing front, Southampton sent me 17 year old Oscar Gobburn on loan, he's played alright but not well enough to get into my regular starting XI.  I also signed Marvin Andrews, the hero of Raith, on a free to help shore up my defence, hopefully he will help me see out away games.  Unfortunately he immediately got injured on international duty lol

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Next up is Chester at home, my goal of getting out of the drop zone by Christmas is in reach

Edited by senorsoupe
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December

So I didn't quite reach my goal of being out of the relegation zone by Christmas, I had to wait until December 28th to do it but I am not out of the drop zone on goal difference!  It's very tight with 5 teams separated by 1 point between 19th and 23rd.  I still can't win away, with 3 home wins and 2 road defeats in December but onwards and upwards and all that.  The football hasn't been pretty, 4 of the 5 games have been 1-0 but we are moving on up!

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January 2009

January has not gone well.  Started by being destroyed by Sheffield Wednesday at home in the FA Cup, which tanked morale.  Really needed to get some results in my next 2 games, home against fellow relegation battlers Wycombe and Chesterfield but only managed 1 draw and 1 defeat leaving me precariously close to the drop.  I then did get an away win at Notts County but a loss at Barnet also really hurt.  It was a month of games against teams around me so I am disapointed not to have gotten more.  At least morale seems to have returned, a good point at promotion hopefuls Shrewsbury and a good win to end the month should hopefully help get us moving forward.  Still too close to the drop zone for comfort.  At least my points earned per game is getting close to 1.5, I'm on pace to finish the season with 51 points (68 earned on the pitch - deduction)

I'm skint so I can't make any signings, am trying to punt some overpaid older guys without success.  

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Edited by senorsoupe
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February 2009, 

Much more encouraging minth with 2 wins, 2 draws and 1 defeat leaving me 10 points clear of the drop zone with 12 games to play.  The loss against Rotherham was a bit of a kick in the gut as we played well, on the other hand the win at Bury was a total smash and grab where we were second best for much of the game, only to grab a late equalizer.  Notts COunty's horrific form has me feeling more comfortable.  Next up is a tricky away tie at high flying Bradford

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March 2009

Again, not the most consistent month, after some poor runs I tried switching to a 4-3-1-2 which worked at first with a 2-1 win over Luton but it's not gone well since, I am going to switch back to the 4-3-3.  The Schedule was tough with trips to the top 2, Bradford and Rochdale, so I only won one game this month.  I'm still 10 points clear with a game in hand (my March 28th fixture was postponed for International callups)  Next fixture is Aldershot at home but after that trips to Macclesfield and Chester City could be key.  Just need to be able to confirm the division I'll be in so I can plan for 2009-10.  I'm just worried my contract won't be extended

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April 2009

Was able to secure safety with 4 games to go and got a contract extension to 2012, which is good, but our form has been very spotty thanks in large part to a lot of injuries meaning I had to call up youngsters like Danny Ings to the first team.  Good home form and lousy away form once again has been a factor but we are safe so I can plan for next year.

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The automatic promotion places have been settled while Luton still have an outside chance of survival, tough luck for Notts County who are going down

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2008-09 is in the books, drew my last game, but goal difference saw me finish 17th.  Luton managed to pip Bury on the final day to send the shakers down while Shrewsbury won the playoff.  The off-season will give me a chance to renew my squad, I've made an offer for Ryan McGivern and Ben Mee to shore up my defence.

Here are results from across the leagues

Premier League

 

Spoiler

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Championship

 

Spoiler

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League One

 

Spoiler

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League Two

 

Spoiler

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COnference

 

Spoiler

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SPL

 

Spoiler

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Scottish Leagues

Spoiler

 

Div 1

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Div 2

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Div 3

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And finally, an interesting result in the Champions League Final

 

Spoiler

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Hopefully 2009-10 can see me challenge for promotion or at least the playoffs, will see what kind of budget I get

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managed to move up to my first friendly before I had to log in to work this morning and some things have happened.  The first is that my wage budget has been cut from 14.9k/week to 13.5k/week which isn't ideal.  I had to release 2 veteran strikers who are on big wages and are 36 and 33 years old respectively  They were my joint top scorers last year but that number was only 10 goals.  I signed a 24 year old French striker (name I forgot) as well as got a 17 year old on loan from Southampton to join Alan Connell and Bret Pittman in my striker force.  I am probably going to switch from a 4-3-3 to a 4-3-1-2 as a consequence, have had an offer accepted to get 21 Attacking midfielder Mark Miller on loan from Celtic so I can keep Marvin Bartley in his natural position as a Centre Mid, where he was his most effective.  Still need to cut another 600 pounds per week from the wage budget, I am trying to move an over the hill Scott Guyett, who still has a year on his 800/week contract and is my sixth best CB according to my coaches but no luck so far.  

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Pre-Season has gone ell in terms of friendly results but I have a long injury list to contend with going  into the start of the season. Godwin Antwil and Leandre Grifit look to be my best signings, I just confirmed Tommy Fraser as well to bolster the midfield.  Here is my squad as of August 4th

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Let's see how August competitive games go!

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