My, hasn’t the year just flown by.

Another season, another FM. I’m personally in a bit of a funny place with Football Manager at the moment. Like some of my fellow bloggers, I’ve struggled, and in fact failed, to find a club that really grabs my interest. In the end, the club has been a bit of an afterthought, and with that rousing and inspiring vote of confidence, it’s Toulouse FC.

Really, the team doesn’t matter all that much, it’s more the nature of how the save will be played that counts. More on that later…

Toulouse:

Still, there were a few reasons that Toulouse appealed, and unusually for me, it’s a selection I came up with a fair while ago (and then failed to come up with a better idea). They’re recently relegated, wear purple, and they play in the fourth biggest city in the country, yet don’t win anything of note (other than a solitary Coupe de France, way back in 1957).

The country is probably the biggest draw for me. I’ve not played in France for a long old time. It should, theoretically at least, provide a harder challenge than some of my previous saves, but I’ve said that before. They did have a takeover in July this year, so I’ve no idea what to expect from the board.

I’m not going to make any promises about this being a one club odyssey or anything. I do enjoy a building project, but it’s started to feel a bit repetitive. So, I’ll play it by ear.

FEO:

So what’s different for me this year? Well, inspired by playing in a couple of FM20 succession saves over on FMSlack, the highly enjoyable Black Crow blog series (first blog post linked) from CJ feat. Mike, and [redacted], I’ve decided to share this save with another.

The Black Crow series has a whole lot more going on than is my intention here, but for the purposes of this save, I’ll be having my very own human Director of Football.

Why? I really enjoy the match experience, the player development, and tweaking tactics in FM, but I’m a little weary of scouting, contracts and transfers. It’s all begun to feel a little samey, and I want a break. I also like the idea of having to adapt my style of play based on the decisions of someone else.

Additionally, I thought it might be interesting for the blog to feature the thoughts of two players, to see our different ways of playing, and whether a unified approach emerges, or we have a constant tug-of-war on our hands. Either way could provide an entertaining read!

I won’t be giving any instructions. The transfer business both in and out will be totally in the hands of the DoF. I’ll be in charge of the team, but the team is whatever I’m given. I’ll be completely hands-off between seasons, and in all likelihood, will be giving the save up for the January transfer window(s) too.

So over to my new boss, Ted Redwood. Oh yes, it’s #EssexFM, baby. Ted writes a mean blog post, is an expert in the loan market, and I’m really happy to be sharing this save with him.

Ted Redwood:

Much like the idea behind my involvement within this save, I have been given no information or restrictions in regards to an introduction.

Over the last few editions of Football Manager I have always noted the success that FEO brings wherever he manages, and wondered what could truly test his abilities within the game.

It seems as if he reached a similar conclusion to myself when managing in a ‘lesser’ European nation during FM20, although it’s the sort of chokepoint you could force yourself through with enough gaming the AI, and of course excess time to play until you burst through.

I feel like I was offered the chance to take over as some kind of rogue Director of Football for FEO after he witnessed my ability to shift Mesut Ozil during a brief Arsenal succession save held within FM Slack.

He’ll be delighted to hear that I’ll be attempting to be as financially prudent as always, however with the added caveat that I’m aware of how good he is at the game, so he’ll probably be showered with players with no real style in mind, and will rue the day he sees how many players are on loan at any given time.

What’s Next?:

Well said, Ted (I wrote this part beforehand, so that’s a total guess). I’m really looking forward to which players he dumps on my doorstep stylishly unveils in future, and I’m so pleased to have his words feature this year.

I’ll be playing a beta save again this year, firstly to have a no consequence try of the game, but also to spend a little time working out how we will start in France.

Similarly to this choice, I won’t be basing my beta selection on an interesting club, but this time on a player, and a specific skill. More next time (once I’ve actually decided…).

Thanks for reading, stay safe x