KickStarter Where's The Passion Lads? Let's Get a Job in Football Manager 2024

[Lucumo]

What's that dead animal on his head?

 

[Andnjord]

Realistically, would there ever be a chance for Briton Ferry to win the welsh league?

 

[wwsd]

I think very low. Just because TNS are the only professional team in the league, and they usually win it by double digit numbers.

 

[Akratus II]

CAM ON ENGERLUND

SCORE SOM FACKIN GOAWLS

 

[Luka-boy]

But fuck Wales, because... IT'S COMING HOME!!!

Hey at least it came home in one alternate universe

 

[Andnjord]

I think very low. Just because TNS are the only professional team in the league, and they usually win it by double digit numbers.

Truly football is a a game of have and have not.

Best to dump Briton Ferry as soon as possible then, Joe Hardman is above petty sentimentality and cares only for (his) bottom line.

 

[wwsd]

I think very low. Just because TNS are the only professional team in the league, and they usually win it by double digit numbers.

Truly football is a a game of have and have not.

Best to dump Briton Ferry as soon as possible then, Joe Hardman is above petty sentimentality and cares only for (his) bottom line.

Yeah, I want to make a move at some point. Job applications and interviews are just a pain in the arse at this point. It's... realistic?

The Arbroath job would have been nice, even if relegated. Since then the only offers have been from like Swedish 4th-tier clubs with even less means than Briton Ferry, or from even smaller Welsh clubs. But around October, clubs will start sacking managers, and that might be a good opportunity to jump ship.

 

[Zanzoken]

Don't know anything about football but after reading the first season I am 100% confident that if Joe Hardman managed England they would have won the Euro.

 

[wwsd]

TLDR: there are JOB OFFERS in this post! Take action now to cash in on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, before it's too late! Or, you know, just read the narrative.

July, 2026. After the decent, but slightly disappointing mid-table finish and League Cup win in the last season, Joe Hardman once again takes stock of his squad. The end of last season already saw the switch to a 4-3-3 system. Now, it's time to find the players best equipped for the new style. First order of business: sell or release any players who are not good enough to compete in the higher levels of the Cymru Premier, who are on high salaries (or paid high fees per match), and/or are too old. Second order of business: increase the scouting budget and find players under 21 who are already good enough for the first team, but don't need to be registered under the Cymru Premier rules. This will allow us to have a strong squad with slightly better depth, that can actually be deployed.

The following players are sent packing: Rhys Wilson (2nd goalie), Alex Pennock (3rd goalie), Morgan Daykin (left winger), Cai Rowlands (left/right winger), Liam Williams (right winger), Philip Perry (left back), Declan Evans (left back/winger), David Tarmey (target man), Clayton Green (central midfielder). Wilson, Pennock and Evans had been at the club even before Joe Hardman, but are now finally deemed surplus to requirements. Tarmey was a good, tall striker on paper, but he wasn't able to play Zack Clarke out of the squad convincingly. The others were all part of the first Cymru South title win or early Cymru Premier days, but they have not given enough of a cutting edge in the latest season. Sam Phillips (right winger), Ryan Hillier (striker), Thomas Walters (great poacher in the early days) were all transfer listed, but opted to stay and accept a reserve role.

Players brought in: Billy Gilmore (central midfielder, mezzala), Charlie Williams (central midfielder, mezzala), Alfie Marriott (goalie), Kalani Barton (right back), Jack Hunter (defensive midfielder), Marcus Daws (right winger), Sunni Nicholls (striker), Jaedyn Chibanga (left and right winger), Keane Hazeldine (central midfielder, previously on loan with us), Jackson Shorrocks (midfielder, but can also play on the entire right flank, as a defensive mid, or even central defender). To add all this creative impulse to the team, Joe Hardman offers TRANSFER SUMS for players for the first time - what is the world coming to??? £3.7K is paid to bring in Daws from relegated Haverfordwest County, and £38K for Shorrocks from Flint Town. Truly, money is destroying the beautiful game. All others are free signings.

The idea for the 3-man midfield is to have one of the new central mids (or last season's best signing, Billy Brooks) play as a mezzala. That means a midfielder who runs into these things Joe Hardman learned about in his coaching course called "half spaces". Whatever will they think of next??? The other one will stay closer to the centre to support attacks. Find out more about mezzalas here:



The goalkeeper position is changed up yet again. Although Dutton has been good for us as a pure shot stopper and aerially strong goalie, what we really want is a sweeper keeper who can also use his feet. The new goalie Marriott fits this bill. We sacrifice a bit in terms of aerial ability and ability to set up the defence, but it's a risk we're willing to take to have another man helping out in counter-attacking.

The system works great in the friendlies, but most of these are against lower-level opposition.

Of course, we're also playing close attention to the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the USA. Two years ago, in the Euros, IT CAME HOME!!! Can England scor som fackin goals again? Far from it: they get eliminated by Nigeria in the round of 16. But the African fairytale doesn't end there:

In the summer of 2026, this song is unavoidable on the airwaves:



Naijalicious!

Gareth Southgate resigns in shame. Who can replace him? Who can save this desperate nation other than... Joe Hardman?

No more daydreaming! The season opener for Joe Hardman will not be some international friendly or qualifier game, but good old Pontypridd in the League Cup second round. Instead of a roaring home crowd bellowing God Save the King, we learn that we have sold 50 season tickets for the upcoming season, two more than last year!

Joe decides to not only use the glut of Conference League money from last season for his signings, but also to offer the highest possible bonus payout for both the league and the two domestic cups. We're going to be fucking competitive this year! We're soon brought back further down to earth by Billy Brooks tearing his thigh muscle. He'll be out for 3-4 months! Although sad, this does cause a bit less of a selection headache and competition for the two central midfield spots.

Studying continued throughout the summer too, and with a tangible result:

According to the UEFA website, we can now:

The player

- Adopting a holistic approach to player development
- Improving players’ basic techniques and understanding of the game
- Encouraging players to think for themselves
- Enabling players to experience the health benefits of regularly playing football and improving their overall fitness
- Instilling in players values of fair play and respect

The game

- Planning and delivering various game formats with an emphasis on enjoyment and development
- Using the game as a tool to help players in their personal and football development

https://www.uefa.com/news-media/news/0268-11f19e6613bf-0114eb62de91-1000/

Contrary to the stock photos on this page, Briton Ferry's players are in fact male, adults, and have two functioning legs most of the time, so this should help us greatly! Joe is already starting to talk about nebulous things like "half spaces"... It doesn't help much though, as the first three games are all lost. Against Barry Town, we dominate for large stretches of the game, but they somehow manage to go up 2-0. As we go into attacking overdrive, it only helps them break through more, and the 3-0 looks terrible on paper. The rumblings of dissent are already beginning:

The tactic is tweaked a bit: the central midfielder playing next to the mezzala is encouraged to move into the final third far more often. Meanwhile, the new right-back Barton, who is not half bad as passing, is turned into an inverted wing-back, so he can plug the gap left by that central midfielder moving into the box. With the best 11, it looks like this:

It works out tremendously well, as we barely skip a beat throughout the autumn:

In September and October, we win 8 times in a row, a new record! Thanks to the tactical tweaks, we are far more threatening up front. TNS meanwhile have had a woeful start, from which they then recovered, but rather slowly. This opens a massive gap for the title race, which we jump into, but Bala Town do it even better. They surprisingly dominate the league after only finishing 9th last season, while we follow in second place, but 10 points behind.

We constantly manage to get Sunni Nicholls into a scoring position, and his excellent finishing ability does the job every time. With 9 goals in 13 games, he's not topping the goalscoring table, but he is consistent enough for Joe Hardman to be delighted.

The man himself: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunni-nicholls-753655137/

I also want to highlight Jaedyn Chibanga:

A youth player for Hull City in real life. With 4 goals and 3 assists, he's also made a big contribution.

Charlie Williams has been another inspired signing. He is the lad who usually plays in that attacking central midfielder position. Another creative force with 2 goals and 3 assists in the league so far.

Marcus Daws:

The Northern Irishman rounds out our creative force with 2 goals and 3 assists in the league.

Zack Clarke, Billy Gilmore and Joe Rabbetts have also been a big part of our creativity up front.

Sunni is not the only one who has been updating his LinkedIn. All throughout the season, we go through one depressing job interview after another. But finally, by the end of November, we ace an interview, and are presented with a job offer!

Mensajero operate in the Segunda Federación, the 4th tier of Spain. Divided into five regional groups, Mensajero, from the Canary Island of La Palma, play in the Group V. Although he has never been to La Palma, Joe Hardman apparently impressed the board with his vast knowledge of holiday resorts in nearby Tenerife. Unfortunately, the club are currently dead last in the league with 7 points. The next-last team, Leganés B, are 6 points clear. To make matters worse, in the Segunda Federación, the BOTTOM FIVE teams all get directly relegated:

Although it would be a very interesting change of scenery, this could be an uphill challenge. What glory is there to be won from this? Joe thanks the chairman for his offer, but asks if he can delay the final signing of his contract for a while. Because there are more clubs vying for his signature!

This is the opportunity we've been waiting for. Livingston FC are in the Scottish Premiership, the top flight of Scotland. Although it's not the English Prem, it's currently rated as the 13th biggest league in Europe. A leaps-and-bounds improvement over the Cymru Premier, which is the 100th in terms of stature in Europe. Like all other teams in the Scottish Premiership, Livingstone are a fully-fledged professional team, with an actual transfer budget. Alas, they are also currently dead last in that league. The statistics so far are harrowing to say the least:

They only won the season's opener against Queen's Park on August 1st. After that, it was all downhill. 6 points. 9 goals scored and 23 conceded. But: still some time to turn things around. Like the Cymru Premier, the Scottish Premiership also splits into two after everyone has played each other home and away. Only the team that finishes last after this gets relegated automatically. The 11th-placed team gets a second chance in the play-offs. With some inspiration and some red-faced yelling, why should Joe Hardman not be able to turn things around? Even if they do get relegated, maybe the board will be merciful if discipline is restored to the dressing room at least. In any case, it's a foot in the door of professional football management!

Of course, an elite manager like Joe Hardman won't just come running like a puppy dog as soon as a contract is thrown at him. He lets them sweat for a week while waiting for other offers to come in. One does:

Coruxo are based in Vigo. Unlike their better-known big brothers Celta, they only play in the Segunda Federación, just like Mensajero, but in a different group. And unlike Mensajero, their situation is not so hopeless, being in 13th place, just above the relegation zone. But they were expected to compete for promotion play-off spots this season, so that's why their manager got the sack.

Another offer from the Spanish 4th tier:

Following the Spanish "little brother" theme, Cornellà are from the same Barcelona suburb as the more renowned RCD Espanyol. Like Coruxo, they are in a decent mid-table spot, but they sacked their manager for "losing control of the dressing room". Something Joe Hardman could definitely help with.

While all this is going on, we face the toughest battle not in the league, but in the League Cup, against Cardiff Metropolitan University:

Although in real life they are still in the Cymru Premier, in my FM save, they got relegated in 23/24. Now they are making their comeback and dominating the Cymru South. And dominating us too, with their right winger Amari Miller. That's one cup we won't be retaining.

So guys, what do you think? For me it's pretty clear what the best option is: despite their precarious position, Livingston offer the best perspective when it comes to managing in the big leagues. The downside is that if we fail to avoid relegation, it could be pretty short-lived. But let me know in the replies if you think Joe Hardman should go to sunny Spain instead, with less of a relegation battle ahead of him (except for Monsajero), even if it's a bit of a slower detour in his career. Or do we finish our contract with Briton Ferry first, to make one last push for a European spot?

 

[Luka-boy]

I'm okay with staying in Wales, going to Mensajero or going to Livingston.

I vote against going to Coruxo or Cornellà.

Also lol Nigeria. Imagine all the hearing loss caused by the vuvuzelas after winning the world cup.

 

[Modron]

I'm okay with staying in Wales, going to Mensajero or going to Livingston.

I vote against going to Coruxo or Cornellà.

Also lol Nigeria. Imagine all the hearing loss caused by the vuvuzelas after winning the world cup.

Some people just want to watch the world burn, I'd vote for the going for one of the spanish teams that has a chance to not get relegated but if that's not in the cards at least lets fail big at Livingston.

 

[Andnjord]

The choice is easy. Livingstone pays
£4300 per month, more than any other team. Do you know how many deadbeat brothers and single mom sisters we could maintain on that salary?

 

[Lucumo]

Stay or go to Livingston. Joe wouldn't go to a sunny place. He loves misery and Scotland would be that, alright.

 

[3 others]

A certain Welsh journeyman famously said "Livingston, I presume" 150 years ago so let's go with that

 

[wwsd]

When the first contract offer from Mensajero came in on Monday morning, November 16th, 2026, the Briton Ferry board immediately summoned Joe Hardman to their office with only one message: "What can we do to make you stay? Do you want a bigger transfer budget? Our daughters? Our dignity? We'll grovel if you want us to." Although Mensajero didn't seem immediately attractive, Joe wasn't going to just immediately spurn the interest from other clubs for the price of a few beads and mirrors. And a good thing too, because the day after the meeting, the approach from Livingston in the Scottish Premier League came, followed by the other Spanish clubs.

To be fair, the club have been decent to us. There was never much money to go around, unless the club pulled off European qualification. When Joe Hardman managed this in his second season, after promotion to the top flight the year before, the club embraced him and helped him move up from his first coaching badge, all the way up to the UEFA C Licence, knowing that this would only make him more qualified to leave them eventually.

Although nothing was public yet, news travels fast in a community of 6,000 souls, and during the home defeat against TNS the Wednesday after, there was a keen sense that this might be the last time the loyal 200 supporters could see the lads play with Joe Hardman on the bench. The less said about the cup away day at Cardiff Met Uni the better. Shortly after, Joe finally put pen to paper on a two-year contract that would see him earn £52,000 per annum. A salary that may sound decently upper middle class for you and I, but for a man who worked at Greggs before studying to be a football manager, it might as well be a million.

And so, it was time for one more look at this:

Before moving on to this:

The bonny lass o' Liviston
Her name ye ken, her name ye ken;
And ay the welcomer ye'll be,
The farther ben, the farther ben,
And she has it written in her contract
To lie her lane, to lie her lane,
And I hae written in my contract
To claw her wame, to claw her wame.

The bonny lass o' Liviston,
She's berry brown, she's berry brown;
An' ye winna true her lovely locks,
Gae farther down, gae farther down.
She has a black and a rolling eye,
And a dimplit chin, and a dimplit chin;
And no to prie her rosy lips,
Wad be a sin, wad be a sin.

The bonny lass o' Liviston,
Cam in to me, cam in to me;
I wat wi' baith ends o' the busk,
I made me free, I made me free.
I laid her feet to my bed-stock,
Her head to the wa', her head to the wa';
And I gied her her wee coat in her teeth,
Her sark an' a', her sark an' a'.

- Robert Burns. If you're wondering what this says, like a lot of poetry, it's basically about fucking.

Scotland: land of Robert Burns, the Highlands, Lowlands, mountains, glens, lochs, windswept islands, dramatic scenery, single malt whisky, Trump golf courses. But also the land of West Lothian suburbia, strategically located for commuting to Edinburgh (with Glasgow just a bit further afield), where the houses look the same, the shopping centres are boxy, the Scottish accent is a wee bit posh and football on Saturdays is the main pastime. There are no prizes for guessing to which Scotland Joe Hardman is going!

It's easy to joke about the kind of places we end up working, but Livingston doesn't seem like a bad place to be. In fact, it would be unfair to dismiss it as a boxy suburb, because although it is a post-war new town, built on a grid to help relieve the overpopulation of Glasgow, it was built around some rather quaint existing villages, including the one named Livingston where Robert Burns apparently got laid. It's pretty picturesque along the river Almond. Besides the village, one of the main historic sights is... a skate park! It has understandably not yet been discovered as a tourist destination, although this Philippino family did seek it out and ate at the Tony Macaroni restaurant. Remember that name, it will become important in a moment. But after post-industrial Wales, Livingston is a fitting place to live on Joe's new salary. There is a bit of industrial heritage in West Lothian though, as it used to be home to shale oil extraction, and some 'bings' (slag heaps) can still be seen in the area.

Joe has no time for slags of any kind however, because this unassuming town is home to a SCOTTISH PREMIER LEAGUE club! Get in! Doing research for this story is easy. Groundhoppers on YouTube have done all the work for me:



If you don't have time to watch, I'll try to summarise it. FM24 names the founding date of the club as 1974, but this isn't the full story. Curiously, Livingston used to be based in another location, Meadowbank, on the east side of Edinburgh, and used to be named Ferranti Thistle (being the club of the workers of the engineering company Ferranti), founded in 1943, and then Meadowbank Thistle from 1974 because of rules on sponsorship names. In the early 90s, the club were relegated a couple of times in short succession and were faced with financial collapse, so the club decided to move out of Edinburgh and set up shop in Livingston under a new name, Livingston F.C., in 1995. Although it doesn't seem to have been as controversial as the Wimbledon -> MK Dons switcharoo in England, the Meadowbank fans understandably weren't too happy with the move. While MK Dons stole a century of history, including the FA Cup-winning Crazy Gang, and moved it from South London to the new town of Milton Keynes, Meadowbank's honours pre-1995 were limited to a few lower-level Scottish leagues and cups.

Under their new identity as 'Livi', the club actually did a lot better, playing in the top tier and in the UEFA Cup, and winning the Scottish League Cup, during the early 2000s. However, financial mismanagement set in, the club went into administration, and were demoted to the third tier several times. In the 2010s, the club bounced back with consecutive promotions, returning to the top flight and being runners-up in the Scottish League Cup in 2021. Unfortunately, in real life, they were relegated last season:



In this FM24 universe, they have managed to hang on so far, but finishing one position lower every season despite diligently sacking their manager every time something goes wrong. Who could have guessed? 26/27 seems to be the year Livi's goose is finally cooked, as the media predict them to finish 11th (the relegation play-off place), but in fact they are dead last, with 6 points out of 15 games, one point below Motherwell. This is where Joe Hardman comes in.

Livingston play their games in Almondvale Stadium:

However, for sponsorship reasons, the stadium is called the TONY MACARONI ARENA. That's right! The chain of Italian restaurants graciously lended their name to this stadium, but wags soon took to calling it "The Spaghettihad", an obvious wink to a more famous plastic club over in Manchester. Tony Macaroni's branch in Livingston currently has a 4.2-star average score on Google Maps, with diners praising its good value for money and large portions. Joe Hardman is a man of the people and doesn't object to this sponsorship. How is Tony Macaroni any more of a joke than 50,000 people cheering in a stadium named after an airline company probably run by alleged paedophile sheiks who allegedly get their kicks from allegedly defecating on Russian Instagram models?

The stadium has a capacity of 9,713 and the pitch is synthetic. Yeah...

On his first day in office, Joe enters the hallowed halls of the Tony Macaroni Arena and sets foot on the plastic pitch for the first time. Detecting the faintest whiff of pasta sauce, he soon finds the boardroom:

The requirement is simple: avoid relegation, even if it has to be done by finishing 11th and competing in the playoffs with hopefuls from the Scottish Championship (the 2nd tier). Unlike some of the Spanish clubs that offered contracts, there is no explicit statement that Joe will be for the chop if the team does get relegated. So even if we don't make it this season, there's some chance that we may be able to stay in the world of professional football.

The club's finances aren't bad. Unlike in the Welsh league, there's plenty of money going around in Scotland, with a >£1M participation trophy being handed out just for existing in this league. Even if we get relegated, we get £1.12M to rebuild. However, the club is currently overspending £24.5k per month on its wage budget, and the board expect Joe Hardman to remedy this.

Also unlike Wales, there are no stringent registration rules. We can pretty much play who we like, but there are work permit rules for foreign players, similar to England. Since the Brexit deal in 2021, this includes any EU players newly coming into the UK, except Irishmen. Also new for Joe Hardman: refereeing calls will now be judged by VAR!

The Scottish League has a split like in Wales, but it's a little different in that it's asymmetric. There are 12 clubs. They all play each other not an even amount of times, but three times, until 33 games have been played in total. Then the league splits into two: the top six form the Championship Group, the bottom six form the Relegation Group. Play continues as normal, it's just no longer possible to move between the groups. In this second stage, you play one game against each competitor for a total of five games, bringing the total number of games per season to 38:



Similarly to England and Wales, there is the Scottish Cup and a Scottish League Cup. At the time Joe Hardman joins, Livingston have already been eliminated from the League Cup, but are still very much in the Scottish Cup.

As Joe leaves the boardroom, his head is still spinning. Just last week, he was managing a bunch of part-timers. Now, he is responsible for a six-figure budget that is still on the low end for professional football, but more money than he's ever seen in his life. Soon he will meet his squad, all seasoned professionals, and find out just why these guys are so low in the league. How will they respond to a man whose resume over the past 5 years literally consists of Greggs, Bottlers United, and Briton Ferry? Will they think he's a fraud? Will the chairman rush in and tell them there's been a big mistake, and they'd actually wanted to sign some other guy named Hartman or Headman or something?

Pondering all these questions, Joe is met outside by Brian Rice, 63, former cult hero of Nottingham Forest, and now a first-team coach at Livingston since 2023.

"You all right there, boss? Hope they didn't give you too much of a hard time."

"No, that's aw'right. Everyone's been fine, it's just so much to take in."

"Hey, if they put you in this position, it means they must see something in you. People may not rate Briton Ferry, but club boards are as professional as team managers nowadays. If a manager consistently overperforms with a club that's supposed to be relegated according to all the bookies, some light is going to pop up on someone's dashboard somewhere around the world. I've been at this club for a few years now, and I've seen a few managers come and go. First of all, I'm not a proper assistant. The last one left in solidarity with the manager. So you'll want to get yourself a new assistant manager as soon as possible. I'd be happy to do the job if you'll have me, but honestly, I prefer to just train with the lads, so maybe it's time for some more fresh blood. But for now, you'll have to do with me. Let me show you your office and go over some of the squad. Right now, the lads are doing some work with the other coaches. You'll meet them later this afternoon."

"I know you're eager to get going and turn this club's fortunes around, but let's have a reality check here first. We're probably not very far from where we should be. This squad is one of the weakest in the league. The full-backs, goalie and central midfield may be the only ones unequivocably Premier League quality. We have no players with international caps except Raikhy, and he plays for India. Just look at who is our top earner, and how much Tammy Abraham out-earns him at Rangers."

"Wait a second, we have the heaviest player in the entire league? He weighs 16 stone? Who's that?"

"That's Joel Nouble. He may not be the most subtle of players, but he hits like a ton of bricks. He can play up front as a target man, but he can also cut inside from the left."

"I'd like to see 225 pounds 'cutting inside'."

"Hey, don't knock it until you've tried it. There's more to wing players than just short, fast guys. Besides, when Joel gets going, he's pretty fast himself."

"Okay, we'll talk about individuals later. I want to know what has been going on with this team. How have we sunk so low? How have we been playing? How can I motivate them?"

"I've brought you some reports on the last six games that we've played. Take a good, long look."

"In these hard away games, we played with five at the back and tried to hit them on the counter. Nobody blamed us for losing at Celtic, but getting overrun in the midfield and defenders making mistakes is embarrassing. Then at Motherwell, Obileye had a bad game again."

"This lad has had a tough season. He's supposed to be one of our best defensive midfielders. He's got the whole package: size, strength, a strong tackle, and he's one of the leaders of the team. He can play as a defender too. He's just let down by his intelligence on the ball, his decisionmaking."

"This Byers lad suffered against Celtic as well. Who's he?"

"Only every manager's dream attacking midfielder. Just look at that constant drive forward. He could be one of our great creators, but the system hasn't gotten the best out of him so far, I'm afraid. If we can utilise his skill set, he could be a force for us."

"Musah got a red card against Hibernian?"

"We paid £245,000 for him this summer, which is ridiculous. He's a decent centre back, don't get me wrong. Great in the dressing room too. But certainly not good enough to be our 4th top earner. Any decent Premiership striker will run rings around him. After the manager got sacked, we switched to four at the back, and he didn't get much playing time again."

"What happened in the new system?"

"We only dominated possession against Dundee, and still didn't win. For the other games, you can imagine it's not much fun when you're chasing the ball all day. It's not like we're being played off the park in every game, but we just lack the finishing touch up front. Then at the back, one individual mistake is often enough to make everyone drop their heads. There is a real lack of resilience here."

"It's not like we didn't create any chances, though. I'm sure you have some statistics to back that up."

"For sure. You'll find it a bit of a change from Briton Ferry. We have coaches, data scientists, performance analysts, the whole nine yards. We could pore over statistics forever, but simply put, we are very poor at keeping possession. We always come under pressure, and this makes it very hard to finish any chances that we do get. We also got two red cards so far, and we are the team with the second most yellow cards in the league. It's not a bad thing to be physical, but when everyone is on yellow cards, that just adds more pressure."

"We'll have to put a system in place with automatic fines for this sort of thing. We'll just have to be more positive going forward. It's no guarantee, but nobody is going to respect us when we get relegated while sitting back all game."

"To be honest, winning these players over to you will be your biggest challenge. They've seen managers come and go, and it means very little to them. But a run of decent results never hurts either. But look at the time! We should go and introduce you to the squad. They're finishing up training and will be meeting you in the lunch hall soon."

"Who is the captain of the team?"

"Here's another problem for you. James is a great full-back, and he can also anchor the midfield in a hurry. He's been at the club since 2021, and he's the undisputed leader of the squad. But his contract is expiring and he has already informed the club that he wants to leave on a free at the end of the season. I can't blame the lad; he's only 28, he's in the peak of his career, and he wants to do something other than fighting relegation every year. But this means you'll have to make a choice: do you want to keep him in his position, even though he's letting the club down? Or do you want to sell him in the winter transfer window to at least get some money out of him?"

"So what you're saying is that I have to eat a boatload of shit one way or another. If I keep him, I'm letting him disrespect the club. If I let him go, I'm losing one of our best players. What is his transfer value anyway?"

"It's merely an estimate, but given his age and reputation, it should be around £350,000. But unless you find some desperate club, anyone interested in him may just wait until the end of the season, so if you try to sell him now, it may only piss him off and still not work."

"All right, fuck it then. The club is rich enough. There are other ways we can cut into the club's wage bill. I'm not going to be principled for £350k when the club gets a million at the end of the season, come rain or shine. We need this guy here now. I think I've heard enough. Let's meet the squad."

"All right lads, gather round. You all know why I'm here. My name is Joe Hardman, and I've been appointed as your manager until the end of next season."

Penrice, the captain, smiles politely:

"Now I know you're all thinking: Here we go again, another tragic manager come to insert himself into our fucking relegation tragedy, what's the point when we're going to get the drop anyway? I don't expect you to win all games all of a sudden. I don't expect you to fight for me, or even for the shirt, the board, or the fans. But I do expect you to put up more of a fucking fight than what we've seen in this season so far for the fucking lunch lady who will get sacked if we go down. We are ONE point below Motherwell, and look at them: they haven't even won a single game. There's no way in hell that you're going to tell me that we are more shite than them. I don't expect miracles from you. I do expect you to to take a screenshot of that league table, make it the background of your ShitePhone or whatever it's called, and look at it every day before breakfast, and remind yourself that we only need to be one point ahead of them to make the playoffs. And then above them are Queen's Park, who knows what can happen there? You beat them once, you can do it again. But our first goal is that 11th spot. Even if we score the winning goal only in the 95th minute of the fucking play-off final, we will have met our target."

"Now, I don't give as big a fuck about the cup as I probably should be. Whatever we can do there is a bonus. I love a good cup fight, I just don't want us to be the fucking cunts who get relegated and then play the Europa League while in the Championship. Just get out there in the cup games and play like you mean it."

"I don't have much else to say, really. I do want to protect you from all the talk about wage bills. That will be my problem, and the board's. Everyone will get a fair chance at first, then we'll see what happens in the transfer window. I do believe we need better quality finishing up front, and I'll be looking for signings there if we can afford it. We don't have to play tiki fucking taka in Scotland, but starting from today's training session, this team is going to want the ball, it's going to want to play the ball. I want us to create, not just react. Get that into your heads, and I'll see you this afternoon."

Joe and Brian discuss the team meeting over lunch.

"Fine words, but there's one thing that will only change with time and results: they've still got no idea who you are, and Musah's left toe has more stature in the game than you do. You can do everything right, but you probably won't. And when things go wrong, they're not going to stick their necks out for you unless you've built up some good relationships with some of them. And even then, there is no real friendship in this game."

The following week is dedicated to setting up the staff and tactics. With the strong defensive midfielder, creative central midfielders and capable full-backs, some form of 4-3-3 seems best. Only the wings and strike force could do with some improvement, but the club are not going to pay much more for wages, being already over budget. We do find an assistant manager, Terry Masson, an almost lifelong former Montrose player. Besides helping out in training, he can give us accurate assessments of players' current and future abilities. We find a fitness coach, set piece coach and any scouts who are prepared to work for the starvation wage that the board will allow.

The captaincy and vice-captaincy belong to two of the leaders in the dressing room, so that's all good. The third one is Bruce Anderson, our hard-working but slightly profligate striker. His main use is more as a pressing forward. For his first game, away at Kilmarnock, Joe makes his first team sheet for Livingston, although not everyone agrees:

A Sporting Life journalist reminds us of our first and most obvious target:

He need not have worried:

The new approach works out tremendously well. Kilmarnock don't know what hit them, and we finish some beautiful long-distance shots while keeping a clean sheet. At the same time, we have to be honest: we didn't get much out of our striker, and not all opponents are going to get caught out this easily. But it's an encouraging start, as we move out of the drop zone:

Next up is the home game against Ross County, followed by twin difficult games against Rangers and Celtic. Can Livingston get a decent string of results? Find out next time!

 

[Andnjord]

Awesome update, I’m loving learning about these comparatively obscure leagues and storied little clubs as much as following the career of Joe Hardman, what a sound lad.

Looks like his speech of SCORE SUM FACKIN GOALS worked too.

 

[Luka-boy]

Holy crap, every single Ngubu in that team has a hilarious face

 

[Lucumo]

Looks like his speech of SCORE SUM FACKIN GOALS worked too.

Pretty sure they are doing it for the lunch lady who would get sacked otherwise.

 

[wwsd]

Last time on Dragon Ba-- err, Football Manager, Joe Hardman took over a Livingston side down on their luck and destined for relegation. Against Kilmarnock, the team finally managed to scor som fackin goals, and, more importantly, played with pride and dignity. But was this just a fluke, or could this be the beginning of a massive resurgence?

Well, fuck. There is no shame in losing against Ross County, who are a decent mid-table side, while everything about Livingston just screams "relegation candidates". But to fail to hold on to a great 2-0 lead is just absolutely gutting. A lack of resilience is going to be a running theme here.

The home games against Rangers and Celtic are Ls as well. Now, in case you live under a rock: they're the two big sides of Glasgow that have divided the Scottish league title between them for ages. For a while, the Old Firm rivalry seemed to disappear when Rangers went insolvent in 2012 and were demoted all the way to the 4th tier, but they soon recovered with repeat promotions, and are now a force to be reckoned with again, winning the league in 2021. But other than that, Celtic have dominated the last decade. They outspend Livingston almost 20-fold.

There is again no disgrace in losing here, but the manner of the collapse against Celtic in particular was shocking, as defeat turned into a rout that Celtic didn't have to work very hard for. But at least after this, there is the game against Motherwell at home just before Christmas. They are our fellow relegation candidates and haven't won anything all season. Time to give them a spanking!

Motherwell show us exactly why they get so many draws. They're not a terrible team (the media predicted they'd finish 7th), and they can pass the ball around just fine. Here they actually out-pass and out-possess us. We need a penalty to break them down in the first half, but fail to hold on to this lead.

Worse, we fall straight back into the bottom spot against Hibernian, albeit with a game in hand. For all the good that does, when you just can't seem to get a win...

On that Boxing Day, you can cut the tension in the dressing room with a knife. This is a group of players that have already gone through a lot of shit together. Then, just when there was light at the end of the tunnel with a new manager, a new system and a smashing 4-0 win, all hope was dashed into the ground again. The finger-pointing starts, and Joe Hardman simply doesn't have the clout necessary to make them respect his authority. He turns to Penrice, the outgoing captain, to bang some heads together:

After this, the team rallies and plays very well away at St Johnstone, but again give away a 2-0 lead in the closing 15 minutes, and the game ends in a draw.

Pretty speeches don't win games. A tactical rethink may be necessary here. The Joe-tal Football carried over from Briton Ferry was wildly successful against Kilmarnock, but it started running into problems very quickly after that. With two weeks off until the league and cup resume, Joe sits down with Brian Rice and the new assistant manager, Terry Masson.



After 15 years of being an absolute legend for Montrose in the Scottish League Two and then League One (4th and 3rd tiers), Terry finally hung up his boots in 2025 and got his coaching licence. But so far, no club had given him a backroom job yet. But when Joe first heard his name, he was impressed. A loyal man who has seen and done it all, and who always knows the right thing to say. Being of a similar age, this is the man Joe wanted at his side, while keeping Brian Rice on the training pitch, coaching players in the more attacking and tactical sides of the game.

"So we are obviously deep in shit here. We had a good talk with the lads just now, but we all know that talk is cheap. We all know that if we lose three out of five games, I can sit there and shout at them all day, but we're not going to magically get results."

"Aye, results and morale go hand in hand. We're in a vicious cycle here. If anything goes wrong in the game, these lads hang their heads very quickly. Then they start making more mistakes, and it's all downhill from there. Maybe James [Penrice] misplaces a pass, or our goalie Shamal George lets the ball go under him. We can't stamp that out entirely, but we can make some changes to our approach to expose ourselves less."

"Here is the team sheet against Kilmarnock. Since then, we've played Nouble on the left wing more often, and Stephen Kelly has been playing in that 'Mezzala' role on right central midfielder. But something is not coming off here."

"The way we use our wide backs is not working at the moment. We keep playing Carl Johnston as a wing-back and telling him to dribble forward and overlap, but that's simply not his strong suit."

"I wanted him out there on the wings because the right central midfielder and the right-winger keep moving into channels."

"Sure, but he's simply not fast enough for that, and his crossing and dribbling is merely okay."

"Then on the left we've got Penrice or Ashworth as an inverted wing-back. This is not a bad idea at all, but he is also placed too far forward. We are trying to create this overload, but many of our opponents are simply faster and smarter, and we've seen James playing the ball right into their feet instead of into Byers when he tries to storm forward."

"Right, let's pull them back a little bit. We can use them as full-backs rather than wing-backs. They can still go forward, just not all the way to the byline. And we'll drop the 'inverted' idea for now and keep James more wide. What about our passing game, though? We control possession in most games, but then suddenly Motherwell out-passed us. I've been trying to keep everything in balance, and give the players some choice in whether to go short or direct. But something is not working here either."

"It was probably a good idea to not set too much in stone when you were at Briton Ferry. At that low a level, most players aren't good enough to follow a rigid set of instructions consistently anyway. But now you have a professional team. We can train with them every day."

"Right now, our play in possession is neither fish now fowl. We need to have an idea of what we actually want to do when we have the ball. We can't just send them out in a certain shape and let them figure it out."

"I haven't been impressed with the wings and striker either."

"Bruce Anderson has been missing some important shots lately, but we also don't have much of an alternative. As long as he is pressing the opposition defence, he is playing a useful role. But you may want to look for better options up front. I did notice that you have been using Nouble as a wide target man recently on the left. Let's keep that up and see if he improves."

With plenty of new ideas, the team and staff go on the two-week break before play resumes. 2027 will bring plenty of tactical tweaks.

Meanwhile, scouting continues apace. It's an astonishing jump up from Briton Ferry: with a full complement of scouts who have some idea what they're talking about, we can do something other than just randomly offering trials to players. There is just one limiting factor: money. At the moment, we're only allowed to scout in Scotland, so we can't find youngsters in other parts of the UK and Ireland. And we don't have much of a transfer budget in general, so the focus will have to be on loans and free signings. Our wingers aren't that great at the moment, so we secure this lad for next season:

Before we resume the league, there is the fourth round of the Scottish League to consider:

Dundee are a fine team, but we beat them comfortably, and are already more secure at the back, holding on to the lead.

In the first league game in the new year, against Queen's Park, we seem to fall back into our old habits as the third club of Glasgow scores the 2-2 in the 81st minute. But then...

Finally, we're the ones dishing out the injury-time goals. We show amazing resilience to finally get the long-awaited next win and move out of the bottom spot again.

There is still a bit of concern about the central defenders lacking intelligence in passing and being prone to mistakes. This is a problem, because we want to play out from the back and eventually transition to having ball-playing central defenders. We need nothing less than a marvel:

The former Ireland youth international beats the stereotype of the big, strong Nigerian, as he is a bit shorter and more subtle, with a great ability to pick out a pass. Let's hope his playing ability is as good as his name. We just have to be careful not to play him if the opponent has a big target man.

This Brazilian loan signing is a bit of a gamble, but he's cheap and a decent back-up if nothing else.

We offload a bunch of third-rate and fourth-rate players, either permanently or as loans, to fall within the wage budget again, thus satisfying one of the board's requirements, so at least we don't get sacked for that like our predecessor. The Indian midfielder Arjan Raikhy and the third goalie Budinauckas are amongst them. Sadly, there are little to no transfer sums paid out for players at this level.

Here we need to talk about our long-term perspectives: as you can see, a mid-table to relegation-zone Scottish Premier League club gets around £1M for prize money for being in the league. Let's call this the participation trophy. The league split is supposed to create more competitiveness, but in a way, it also reinforces the stratification that's already there: out of the top six, all but one of them are basically guaranteed European football. These are always Celtic and Rangers from Glasgow, Hearts and Hibs from Edinburgh, and Aberdeen. The European money puts them miles ahead of the rest of the league. The bottom six will generally have to rely on loans and free transfers, and occasionally buy players for five-digit or six-digit sums. The only way to break out of this is to have all the right signings and march into Europe somehow. Or win the Scottish Cup. Maybe we should take the cup a bit more seriously, because if you win, you get to play Europa League.

The outcome of the tactical talks with the backroom:

Nouble usually starts on the left, but here he is on the right because the opposition left-back was short and weak.



This is actually a tactic I downloaded while trying to figure out how to use that 102kg guy Nouble, who can play from the left and had "Wide Target Forward" as one of his best roles, so I wanted to try that out, because it's not very common. I tried playing him in the Wide Target Forward role before, but simply as a tweak of the previous system, with the goalie hoofing the ball to him and hoping for the best. Now, it's actually integrated into the tactic with a bit more thought behind it. Joe and the backroom staff have already taken to calling this tactic "The WTF".

I generally mix and match self-created tactics and downloaded ones, although I tweak the downloaded ones too. It's not so easy to plug and play tactics nowadays, although there is very much a "meta" that favours 4-2-3-1 (with DMs), high lines, and Gegenpressing. But I assume that if you are e.g. Manchester City, you could also just pick a preset 4-2-3-1 Gegenpressing tactic from the game, and still do well, since you can just buy the most quality players for whatever position/role you have in mind. Trying to break the game engine is just the cherry on the pie. With a weaker club like Livingston, it's arguably more fun, since you have to make do with the materials you're given, try to find quality on loans or on a free, and adapt your tactic to the available players. Pressing will usually be needed to some extent though.

The new approach produces a 1-1 away at Dundee in the league. Next up is Ayr in the cup:

Undoubtedly, it's great for the neutrals, but Joe Hardman is less amused to be eliminated like this by a team that's in the relegation zone in the Scottish Championship (2nd tier).

A hopeless loss in Edinburgh, and the mood in the dressing room is once again volatile.

"We've tried the WTF, it obviously has potential, but right now, we are still too vulnerable at the back."

"Before your arrival, we played five at the back. It wasn't very effective, but maybe we can tweak it a bit. We can park the WTF tactic for a while. Keep practising it in training, get those patterns in, and deploy it again later. But for now we need to stop spilling goals, or we'll be sacked before Easter.

The new tactic is supposed to stop the bleeding, but with a 2-1 defeat at Ross County and a 3-2 at Rangers, it doesn't produce miracles yet. The board are starting to lose patience:

With the players, Joe does seem to have reached a bit of a turning point:

Although the string of bad results hasn't exactly stopped, the players are beginning to come together and accept that the relegation fight will be an uphill struggle, but it's still all in their hands. Hardman also finishes studying for his UEFA B Licence:

The UEFA B Licence will help you:

• Develop medium-term curriculum/programme planning
• Develop coaching behaviour and practice, aligned to your players in training and games
• Develop your understanding of the 4-corner model and its relationship with player development
• Apply principles of play to individual players and units of players
• Identify and develop coaching strengths and areas for development

https://learn.englandfootball.com/courses/football/uefa-b-licence

I'll be fucked if I know what that means. I think IRL, you actually need a UEFA Pro Licence to be allowed to manage top-flight clubs in Europe in anything above a caretaker capacity. IRL, this B Licence apparently only allows you to train amateur clubs, or be the assman at a professional club. But let's not split hairs here and just accept that this mechanic does add immershun.

In Scotland, most weeks only consist of one game, especially when you're not in any European tournaments and you've been eliminated from the Cup, like Livingston at this moment. Although having squad depth is certainly useful and is not made harder by homegrown registration rules, it's mostly feasible to play your strongest squad in all matches. And for relegation candidates like Livingston, it's pretty much essential. Sometimes, because of international breaks or cup games on weekends, there is a whole week without any games. For example, after the 3-2 at Rangers, it's a full 2 weeks until the next game, at home against Heart of Midlothian. How can we take profit from this?

Once, at Briton Ferry, Joe Hardman started Operation Whipping Boy, inviting much bigger English League Two, League One and Championship clubs to come to Briton Ferry, wipe the floor with them, and rake the financial rewards of the improved attendance. Now, at Livingston, during the week off, we can do the opposite for a quick confidence boost:

FC Edinburgh are in the Scottish League One, and pose no challenge to us. Is this a bit gamey? Probably yes. On the other hand, it can probably legitimately be useful to blow off steam once in a while. Get that feeling of live target practice, tapping in goals in your own stadium instead of on the training ground. Real-life managers often complain about fixture congestion, but will still plan friendlies on weeks off, because the dynamic is just different.

Against Hearts, the more defensively sound tactic seems to be working, with the team 1-0 up in the 89th minute. But then...

Yes, sometimes you just get FM'd. In fairness, the tactic has hard tackling enabled, and we took the risk to leave Krauhaus on the pitch with a yellow card. It's hard to tell sometimes, but the second card looks soft, and Joe Hardman speaks his mind.

"I wasn't angry and I didn't 'slam' anyone, I only said the yellow cards looked a bit harsh to me. Your commentator said the same thing. Don't we have free speech anymore? All right then, the yellow cards were totally fair, it's totally reasonable to give one for every tap. That's all I'll say on the matter."

Against Celtic, our defensive tactic means we're under constant pressure, and it's a miracle that they're only 1-0 up as the game enters its final 20 minutes. And then another lapse in discipline:

We switch to a 4-4-1 to stop the bleeding as much as possible. But in the 84th minute, Livingston get a free kick just a wee bit into Celtic's half. Celtic sit back, satisfied that the result is in. Kelly passes the free kick to Obileye, Obileye flicks it back to Kelly, Kelly takes it to the edge of the area, Celtic are still sitting back, and...

Looks like someone just got FM'd.

A fair comparison, I'm sure you'll agree.

With another week off, we crush Linlithgow Rose, playing in the Lowland League (5th tier), although with only a 2-0 score, it's perhaps not as much of a morale booster as snatching the draw out of the lion's den at Celtic Park. After that, we lose 2-0 at home to Hibernian, but again, they are one of the top sides in the league, who tend to compete for European qualification.

Since Joe Hardman took over, Livingston are still pretty profligate, but we're no longer the most wasteful side in the league.

The two most wasteful sides in the league face off against each other, and Motherwell lose at Kilmarnock, leaving us one point clear of automatic relegation still. The stage is set for the relegation match of the season, Motherwell vs Livingston. In the late autumn, the home game against them was supposed to be the stepping stone out of the relegation zone, but we merely scraped a draw instead. Now, we must take revenge. Since this is a must-win game, Hardman decides to deploy the WTF tactic.

This time, we've got them where we want them. Anderson searches out Nouble on the counter. He moves his massive frame into the box and taps it beyond the reach of their goalie.

In February and March, the Livingston faithful had little reason to cheer. But we have hung on and got the crucial win against Motherwell (only the 4th win of the entire season) just in time. Nouble is finding his form in the WTF tactic built around him.

The board are satisfied as the wage bill is under control and we're 4 points ahead of Motherwell and on course to survive, if only through the playoffs. The mood in the dressing room has stabilised, and the manager's authority is accepted for now. It's no coincidence that we are a bit better at holding on to leads now, and more resilient when falling behind.

The league splits. In the Relegation Group, the big four Glasgow and Edinburgh teams, and Aberdeen, can no longer hurt us. The final five games of the season are all against our fellow bottom feeders. As difficult as it has been to win, our chances of survival are better than ever. Stay tuned as the relegation battle goes down to the wire!

 

[wwsd]

While the top teams line up in the Championship Group to get their arses kicked by Celtic, Livingston find themselves in an entirely different kind of hell. The Relegation Group: Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate! Here the also-rans of the Scottish Premiership fight each other in a deadly derby, where the 12th-ranked team gets relegated directly, the 11th-ranked team contests the playoff finals, and all the others survive in mid-table obscurity.

The first game starts, away at Queen's Park. Johnston crosses the ball early from the right, and finds Nouble's imposing figure at the far post:

This time around, there are no last-minute mistakes. The team shows a grim determination. In the latter stages, we switch to a 4-1-4-1 and drag the game over the finish line to record the 5th win of the entire season.

St Johnstone were relegated in 2024, and are newly promoted this season. They haven't been doing great, but have been profiting from us and Motherwell being even more shite. Their player with the most assists in the league so far is Ukrainian right-midfielder, Max Kucheriavyi. He is left-footed and cuts inside all the time, but crossing is not his forte, let alone with his right foot. We send Penrice out to constantly force him all the way to the right wing and to use his right foot, and effectively nullify him. It works out brilliantly, and St Johnstone roll over:

Very pleasing, also to see Krauhaus get on the score sheet. We have him on loan, but will make him a permanent fixturen next season as his contract at Brentford is running out. So far we haven't tweaked the "Inside Forward" role on the right yet, although he is not a great finisher. His form has shown some ups and downs, but today he's on fire!

Against Ross County, our finishing is troubling, but a penalty in the 35th minute helps us over the line:

That's right, that's three wins in a row! The hard work on the training pitch finally pays off. Building the tactic around Nouble is a great gamble, as he soaks up a lot of defensive effort. His lack of technical skill is made up by his ability to get and hold the ball in that left-wing area and shoot or cross from there.

This win takes us beyond St Johnstone, all the way to 10th place with a 4-point advantage! If we manage to hold on to this position for the last 2 games, we will stay up without having to risk the playoffs.

We also advance up another table:

The manager is not ashamed:

"I am satisfied with my players' performance. They play with passion and determination. If you're expecting an apology from me, you can wait for the rest of your life."

The biggest challenge is away at Dundee, placed 7th in the league, and not a relegation candidate at all. According to FM24, they are our rivals for "historic" reasons, but I can't find anything about this, and there is quite a long distance between both Dundee and Livingston (and Meadowbank). We win this, we're guaranteed the 10th spot and complete safety.

It's been billed as the game of the season, and it doesn't disappoint the neutrals, but at the end of the day, we go home with zero points despite recovering from going down 2-0 at first. Worse, St Johnstone win against Motherwell, so the deficit is reduced to only one point. Motherwell are already guaranteed to go down and our last game is against them, while St Johnstone have to play at home against Queen's Park. With the latter game unpredictable, the best way to safety is for us to beat Motherwell again and finish the season in style!

Meanwhile, Celtic are already crowned champions, to no-one's surprise. Hard to imagine that Motherwell were once occasional top-3 finishers!

11 minutes into the Motherwell game, the rumour soon goes around the stadium that St Johnstone have scored against Queen's Park. We have to score! Livingston try to break down Motherwell all game, but their defence doesn't budge. Then, in the 64th minute, there is a huge roar in the basil-smelling stands of the Tony Macaroni Arena. Not for a Livingston goal, but for Queen's Park! They've equalised!

After being disappointing in finishing all game, the referee blows the final whistle. Joe Hardman and the players huddle around the bench, while the fans and staff are all glued to their phones, waiting for the final result from Perth. Then, another huge roar!



We're staying up! We've dodged relegation, both automatic and through the playoffs!

Celtic are already assured of the title. The other top teams divide the honours between them as usual, although Aberdeen managed to knock Rangers off their perch to take that second CL spot. Rangers, Hibs and Hearts can try their luck in the Conference League. Motherwell were already relegated, and St Johnstone must play against a Championship side to stay up.

"When you win, you have friends", as they say. Joe Hardman took over a club that was in deep shit. The season proved to be a long relegation struggle, with Livingston finding it very hard to get wins. There were times when it seemed Joe might get the sack as well, as the team just couldn't hold on to its form, its leads, or its collective mental state. There were moments when this might very well have been Joe instead:

Even being Sir Alex's son can't save you if you go down.

But in April, we finally saw off Motherwell, and then found the required form right when it was needed, in the final five relegation games. Although we only got one point from the last two games, we were saved by Queen's Park's equaliser at St Johnstone.

Kilmarnock win the Scottish Cup. Next season, we need to put up a bit more of a fight in the cups!

Next season, we'll need to get those 7 wins a lot quicker than April, and expect a lot more than 10 goals from our top scorer!

Shamal George, the English goalie, has not been without mistakes, but he's been mostly dependable. He has a 1-year extension clause in his contract, so we make sure to keep him at the club! The same goes for our midfielder, Byers.

Penrice is one guy we haven't been able to retain, as he is determined to leave the club. Charlton, playing in the English Championship, snap him up.

We went a bit overboard with offering free transfers to players with expiring contracts:

"I promised Campbell WHAT??? What was I drinking???"

"You'll want to be more careful dealing with these agents. They always submit lists of demands, and if you don't explicitly exclude them, they'll assume that's a hard promise."

"We can work around this, though. Obileye has been doing well in the defensive midfield position, but we could find someone else to operate as a deep-lying playmaker. That player could distribute balls from deep, while Campbell could help out in pressing and support counter-attacks.

"We also need to replace Penrice. Zac Ashworth could do the job, but I want a man behind him."

"Why don't we turn to the loan market? We can't get all good youth players from Celtic, as their wages are simply too high. But teams like Aberdeen will have some decent reserves players."

For the upcoming season, the League Cup group stage is drawn:

That's right! The Scottish League Cup starts with a group stage that is seeded. With the games set in July, this almost fills the purpose of a pre-season. Because why go on training camp to Portugal, when you can go to Stranraer?

And with that, we'll wrap up the 2026/27 season! Livingston have been saved for now, but can they look up? Can they dream of something bigger? Or will Joe Hardman grow disenchanted with the Scottish league and the way the money and honours are divided here, and look for a bigger opportunity?

 

[Andnjord]

After being disappointing in finishing all game, the referee blows the final whistle. Joe Hardman and the players huddle around the bench, while the fans and staff are all glued to their phones, waiting for the final result from Perth. Then, another huge roar!

Funny thing, I lived through almost the exact same scenario with Legia Warszawa. Except that the suspense was to know if they’d win the Polish League (Ekstraklasa) and that after a long and intolerable 15 minutes (the other game had been delayed) it was one lone pollack who stood up, phone in hand, a huge smile on his face shouting “KURWA WE’RE FUCKIN CHAMPIONS!!!!” (or something to that effect, I don’t speak Polish) leading the 31000 fans at the Polish Army Stadium to erupt in the biggest collective orgasm I’ve ever witnessed and a full scale pitch invasion. Fun times.

 

[Azira]

After being disappointing in finishing all game, the referee blows the final whistle. Joe Hardman and the players huddle around the bench, while the fans and staff are all glued to their phones, waiting for the final result from Perth. Then, another huge roar!

Funny thing, I lived through almost the exact same scenario with Legia Warszawa. Except that the suspense was to know if they’d win the Polish League (Ekstraklasa) and that after a long and intolerable 15 minutes (the other game had been delayed) it was one lone pollack who stood up, phone in hand, a huge smile on his face shouting “KURWA WE’RE FUCKIN CHAMPIONS!!!!” (or something to that effect, I don’t speak Polish) leading the 31000 fans at the Polish Army Stadium to erupt in the biggest collective orgasm I’ve ever witnessed and a full scale pitch invasion. Fun times.

The feeling of mass hysteria that can exist in a football stadium is something else. You need to experience it to understand it.

Can be quite exhilarating. I recommend.

 

[Andnjord]

The feeling of mass hysteria that can exist in a football stadium is something else. You need to experience it to understand it.

For sure. Every Legia game I’ve been to has had great atmosphere thanks to its fans (my father lives in Warsaw, so we go to the stadium whenever I visit him) and growing up in Rome the atmosphere in the Stadio Olimpico (for AS Roma) was nothing short of amazing, or at least it was back in the 90s.
Meanwhile, the most boring ambience I’ve ever experienced was watching Chelsea in their home turf, which is no wonder considering how sanitised the Premier League has become.

 

[wwsd]

I was glad to have some final match day madness or "They think it's all over" moment in this LP. I didn't have time to dramatise it a lot, but anyone who loves football other than the global elite level (not that that can't be good, but you get the idea) can imagine this feeling.

Another good story from real life. One of the weirdest final match days happened in the Dutch 2nd tier this year: https://rpgcodex.net/forums/threads...all-things-soccer.88916/page-141#post-8985256

Fiction can't beat this. Not one, but two pitch invasions from fans thinking they had already won promotion due to a phantom goal in the other game happening simultaneously. The stadium speaker heard this rumour, didn't have signal on his phone, and he just ran with it.



I'm from Groningen myself, although I'm not a massive fan of the local team, but the promotion celebrations were intense. The team went down last year, and then they started the new season so poorly at the second level that fan discontent exploded, with some not so pretty incidents. As in "the board and staff are about to be run out of town with tar and feathers" kind of discontent. But then they found a great run of form, and the week after this moment, they beat a shellshocked Roda with ease and secured promotion back into the Eredivisie after only one season. Then Roda had one more chance in the playoffs, but they choked there as well with a 3-1 loss against NAC away, and a 5-0 loss at home, 8-1 on aggregate.

I think this is the only time I can remember when a stadium PA was interviewed after a game, instead of players and coaches.

 

[3 others]

I'm wondering if FM puts its thumb on the scale a little bit to get more dramatic high-profile matches, title / relegation races etc. Or if it's all actually random and those just happen to form more lasting memories. I've had at least the following:
* Team firing on all cylinders, 8 points clear in the 1st place with 5 matches to go with an unbeaten streak stretching to the last season. Suddenly the form collapsed and I had to grind out a 2-1 victory with a debatable penalty shot against a relegation side on the last day to win the title.
* Total meltdown in the 2nd leg of a promotion playoff after a 3-0 away victory in the 1st leg. I think we lost 0-5 at home or something absurd like that.
* Turning around a 4-1 deficit in the CL semis
* Seeing a 3-1 lead against Real Madrid evaporate to a 3-3 draw in injury time only for my substitute centre back to strike a 30 metre free kick at the back of the net with his 11 Free Kicks and nonexistent Long Shots. Last kick of the match too.
* Epic collapse on the last day after going neck-to-neck with PSG all season:

Then again, these aren't too uncommon in real life either. The last few posts are great examples. They still remember in La Coruña when AC Milan came to town two decades ago with an impossible 1st leg lead and "heaven descended on Riazor" for one night. France-Argentina overtime was pure madness. Empoli stayed in Serie A with an injury time winner in the last match just this spring.