When you are creating a custom skin, you need some save to be able to test all the things you edited. In my eyes, it’s ideal to test it with a nation/club that already includes logos and player faces because they are licensed and you don’t have to spend a lot of time waiting while the skin reloads every time.

This is not a must thing to do, you can test your skin changes by reloading your skin absolutely how you want but the more graphic add-ons you have, the more time you will spend reloading the skin. And that’s how this short-term tactic challenge happened. By testing the skin. And as a complete coincidence…

I just needed to test how the skin looks in terms of club primary/secondary colours so I started a new save with France, England and Italy loaded. I holidayed for a couple of months to be able to check the ‘FM Stag Stats’. I moved from France to Italy and to England to see more than just one club and league too. Before I ended up as a manager of Birmingham City just because I needed to test the match scoreboard within the EFL competition…

Bottom of the English Championship

As I said, it was just a coincidence this save/challenge even happened. I just wanted to play some FM matches and test some set pieces but I didn’t have enough time and energy to start the main long-term save. I already finished the post about one season with Sparta and when I checked this save, Birmingham was bottom of the English Championship after 27 matches with a 6-point gap to safety.

I had absolutely no idea what sort of players were in the squad. I had no idea who is good and who is not. I know only some players. Juninho Bacuna only because he is the brother of former Reading player Leandro Bacuna (I had to check it because I was confused and I thought FM had the wrong first name…). Krystian Bielik. And the one and only Oliver Burke…

I don’t know why but I thought it could be a good challenge for me…

How it went with the tactical approach

I went to the Tactics screen and I loaded the same tactic as I used with Sparta and I tried to fit Birmingham players into it. It was not easy and the first match showed me I have to make changes. Not too many but I had to change everything in all areas - instructions, positions & roles. The only thing remained - a balanced mentality.

• Step #1 to safety | Saturday, 20/1/2024 | Stoke (Away): I kept the formation and instructions from the Sparta Prague save and I selected some players who didn’t play too much in the previous time of the save. A couple of players were also pissed off even before the kick-off because I decided to play them somewhere else - Krystian Bielik for example, who I thought can be a solid option for the CM position. We lost 1:2 - Léris opened the score in the 27th minute, we equalised in the 76th and they scored a winning goal from a penalty kick four minutes later. I didn’t expect we would beat them 5:0 just because the tactic worked in a different save. That’s not how it works…

Gaps, mistakes and changes

The first match showed me three things that I was 100% sure I had to fix (or at least try to fix) to survive in this competition.

1. There were too many gaps between all lines. Almost all deflected and second balls were won by Stoke players in that match. The gap between the defensive line and two central midfielders was like a big crater.

2. There were too many mistakes in possession and passes. The game suggests 89% of passes were completed but I probably saw the remaining 11%…

3. Too much “complicated” playing style can’t secure enough points.

1. I decided to move the AM player to the DM position. I didn’t want to use a half-back because there were already three central defenders. I didn’t want to use a playmaker role in this position (more in the #3). In the end, I went with the Anchor role. This role should secure me the player will risk less, he will hold his position and he will fill the big gap between the lines. Another change was to reduce the intensity of pressing. I reduced it to just “Counter-Press”. So, a higher defensive line or high press was not included.

2. The first thing I did was remove the “Pass Into Space” team instruction. It could be very risky and it showed again thanks to this if you don’t have good enough players.

3. The main point of this bullet point is that I was sure I had to make it as simple as possible. There are no such good players as in the save with Sparta. There were not good enough players to play as BPD = I changed the back three to CD(St) - CD(D) - CD(St). There were not good enough players to play as AP(S) = I changed this role to MEZ(S) and the second MC role was changed to CM(A) because no central midfielder was physically capable of playing as a BBM for more than 30 minutes before he fell to the pitch.

   • I mentioned how I wanted to make it more simple - that’s why I removed the Play Out Of Defence instruction. There were too many situations when the defensive players wanted to play football in dangerous areas and they were not capable of doing it. It led to mistakes and to both goals we conceded against Stoke.

“Bikes” on sides remained

One thing remained the same I kept a Complete Wing-Back role on both sides of the pitch. The players available in the squad were physically well-prepared. For example, Ethan Laird (22 years old) was one of the main weapons of our team in this short-term challenge. His five assists in the first five appearances as CWB(R) speak for itself. But more later…

• Step #2 to safety | Tuesday, 23/1/2024 | Middlesbrough (Home): Just three days after the first match we faced Middlesbrough, the 11th team in the league table. Ethan Laird made two assists and we won 2:1 thanks to a late goal by super sub Tyler Roberts in 90+1.

• FA Cup intermezzo | Saturday | 27/1/2024 | Brighton (Home): I would rather not play this match as I was afraid some player would pick up some injury but there was a week without the mid-week match after this cup game so I took it as another option how to improve the tactic. We lost 1:3 despite being 1:0 up after eighteen minutes…

• Step #3 to safety | Saturday, 3/2/2024 | West Brom (Away): A thought opponent to take some points from. They were in the play-off spot for a long time but we were another team they lost points with and also moved down through the table. The match ended with a 1:1 draw.

• Step #4 to safety | Saturday, 10/2/2024 | Sheffield Wednesday | Away: Crucial match for both teams. But more crucial for us. Sheffield Wednesday was the 23rd before this match. The aim was to win to finally catch up with the teams ahead of us. It was a dominant display and we won 3:0 thanks to a hattrick by Lukas Jutkiewicz. The “Focus Play Down The Left/Right” instructions paid off 100% in this match as Jutkiewicz scored two from these three goals after crosses from the right side of the pitch after an assist by CWB(S)…

• Step #5 to safety | Tuesday, 13/2/2024 | Blackburn (Home): The home match against Blackburn (6th in the table prior to the match) was the most dominant so far despite they were 1:0 up early in the match. We scored two goals after a short corner kick routine, one goal after a cross from the left side and one goal by AF after Jutkiewicz won the header after a longer pass from the defensive lines and we won 4:1. The most important thing was we moved up to the 22nd position after this win when the 32nd round was completed.

• Steps #6, #7, #8 and #9 to safety | 17/2/2024 - 5/3/2024: After a perfect 4:1 win at home against Blackburn, we faced four more teams from the top 10. The first one was Sunderland and we earned 1 point for a 2:2 draw as we were 0:1 and 1:2 down and all four goals were scored in the 1st half. We moved down to 23rd in the table as Sheff Wed won away against Millwall.
  The fourth in the table Ipswich was next. And we drew 1:1 here after this lovely goal by young Jordan James.
  Southampton at home, they were 3rd in the table ahead of the match, they were 2:0 up after 28 minutes but we managed to draw it 2:2 after goals by James and Jutkiewicz.
  Another match against a team with the play-off ambitions - Hull City away. Again, Hull went 2:0 up after 26 minutes, we overturned the result to 3:2 thanks to three goals within 15 minutes after the break before conceding the third goal in the 82nd minute - 3:3. That means four points for four draws against teams from around the play-off spots.
  We remained 23rd in the table after these four matches with ten matches left to play…

• Step #10 to safety | Saturday, 9/3/2024 | Millwall (Away): The important 2:1 away win in the tenth match of this challenge thanks to goals by Anderson and Stansfield. I had to rotate the squad a little bit because some players were tired a lot after previous matches. But the red card in the second half also helped us and we moved out of the relegation zone after this match as you can see…

Making a star from an unwanted veteran

I didn’t share one change within the tactic. It’s connected to the striker position and I decided to change the PF(A) role to the DLF(A) role alongside the Advanced Forward. The main thing was that Scott Hogan was injured and I couldn’t use him as PF(A).

I used that PF(A) role in the first match against Stoke, he scored one goal but it was not a good enough performance and I didn’t like what I saw. I decided to use 34-year-old Polish forward Lukas Jutkiewicz as the DLF(A). Jutkiewicz has good enough attributes of Aggression, Teamwork or Work Rate to be a decent PF(A) but I wanted to change it. I decided to play him as DLF(A)…

…Jutkiewicz made just 4 appearances for the previous time of the season before I started this challenge. Only three of them were in the league and all of them only as a sub. I didn’t have too high expectations and he absolutely smashed even the smallest expectations.

He made 11 appearances - 10 in the league and 1 in the FA Cup against Brighton. He didn’t score only against Ipswich and Millwall. He scored 12 league goals in these 10 mentioned league games and made one assist. It’s definitely the best possible script for how to make a hero from someone who was unwanted here…

The player overview and form screens below are made after the 37th round.

• Step #11 to safety | Saturday, 16/3/2024 | Watford (Home): The same goalscorers - Keshi Anderson and Jay Stansfield secured us three points after a 2:0 win over Watford. They had some chances but we were in control of the match against the side from the middle of the table and we moved up to 19th position prior to the international break in March 2024.

Does FM spy on me? I’m absolutely sure FM knows when I am happy with how the save goes. Just three days after a 2:0 win over Watford, two e-mails related to injury news came to my mailbox. Our main keeper John Ruddy is out for up to 10 weeks with a hip injury. And Lukas Lutkiewicz is out for up to 4 weeks with a thigh strain.

Another thing was that three players of the starting line-up came back from the national team crumpled up like paper and were unable to play the next match due to fatigue.

Thank you…

• Steps #12, #13, and #14 to safety | 29/3/2024 - 6/4/2024: Despite losing key players due to injury and due to fatigue from the national team duties, we were able to beat Queens Park Rangers 1:0 away from home thanks to late goal by Jay Stansfield. It was important mainly because QPR were bottom of the table ahead of the match and we needed to increase the gap.
  Preston at home, another important match against a team in the relegation battle as they were 18th. And we won 1:0 at home thanks to a wonder strike by Juninho Bacuna.
  The 41st round took us to Leicester, the second team on the table and despite scoring a nice corner kick goal, they beat us 3:1. It simply was a different level. Despite the last defeat with Leicester, we remained 18th in the table with 6 points ahead of the 22nd place with five matches to go.

• Step #15 to safety | Wednesday, 10/4/2024 | Cardiff (Home): The next opponent had no issues with the relegation zone but they were still able to reach the play-off place. I wanted at least four points from the next two home matches including this against Cardiff. Calum Robinson scored the first goal of the match in the 19th minute and Cardiff took the lead. But Jay Stansfield levelled ahead of the end of the first half and Jordan James scored a winning goal in the 67th minute - 2:1. We moved to 17th place in the table with 9 points gap ahead of the 22nd place…

• Step #16 to safety | Saturday, 13/4/2024 | Coventry (Home): Our match was the last one of the 43rd round. I already knew the results. I knew a win would be enough to leave the relegation struggles behind us. Keshi Anderson sent us ahead after seven minutes but the game itself was very tight and Coventry equalised in the 79th minute. Lukas Jutkiewicz, not fully fit after an injury, came to the pitch and he scored a winning goal in the 82nd minute to secure us three points - 2:1!

• = Birmingham FC SAVED in the English Championship.

The final two weeks

We knew we couldn’t be relegated and the main goal was accomplished. I wanted to finish the season so I played the last three matches of the season without fear of the result. We won both remaining away matches against the table below-placed teams - both with a similar score of 2:1 against Rotherham and Huddersfield. In the end, Rotherham was relegated while Huddersfield didn’t.

The last final match of the season was against Norwich at home. Norwich beat us 2:0 as they were a better team and won deservedly. I’m glad I was able to secure Championship participation for the next season earlier than in the last match of the season against such a strong side.

In the end, Birmingham finished 14th in the table after playing 19 league matches under ‘FM Rensie’ - 11 wins, 5 draws and 3 defeats. Just seven points behind the last play-off place despite the last place in the table ahead of these last nineteen matches.

Conclusion

As always (or as usual), something that I didn’t plan was enjoyable. A couple of tactical tweaks and survival was not impossible despite the bottom place when it started. Using Lukas Jutkiewicz as a DLF(A) was a great choice and without doubt, it would be much harder to survive the relegation battle without this change.

I also liked Jordan James as CM(S) with Get Further Forward individual instruction. But the key change was to change the AM role to the DM to give the team more stability and more security in the middle of the pitch.

You can compare both versions from the Sparta save and this short challenge with Birmingham. I wrote this usually in line while I was playing so it’s more like a diary of a couple of in-game months. And I enjoyed it.

Thanks for reading.

FM Slack alert!

There were a lot of changes within many social media including Twitter (now “X”) and it’s not the same as in the past. We can’t see many things due to the algorithm, weird preferences and many other reasons I don’t even want to know.

There are many Discord servers and I’m sure they are good and useful. But I will probably always be a bigger fan of Slack. Or better worded the Football Manager Slack. Feel free to join us with this link. The link is also in the picture below.

You will find a short channel summary in the ‘generalchat’ so it will be easier for you to navigate through the channels.