Finally finished my first season! .. Immediately screwed my club over.
I’ve been trying for years to get into the game but just feeling overwhelmed by everything, and decided to try again. Skipped the first year so I could feel more like I was coming into my own setup, and ended up taking over Crystal Palace in the off season/start of 26/27.
The only players I brought in were Romeo Lavia on loan, paying 30% of his wage, and Nathan Ake for cheap from City and two emergency depth midfielders. Made some small player sales and ended up with 30m in the bank at the end of August, kept aside for reinforcements in January.
Got off to a flier, smashing lower table teams 3, 4, 5 goals apiece. Knock Chelsea out of the Carabao cup third round. A few disappointing draws and a couple of losses but we’re looking good, comfortably in the top half and smashing the mid-table objective.
Mid-way through December the board wipes my budget due to being in a bad financial position. Not ideal, I think to myself, but we move. Make a few youth deals with the little money I can scrape together for next season, envisioning being here for awhile. End of January we’re knocking on the door of European places, still knocking goals in for fun. By the end of March we’re in the top four.
My board gives me the budget projections for next season - zero transfer budget and a cool five hundred quid extra wage. Fine, I’ll qualify for Champions League, earn some dosh and we’ll revisit that. Lose the last four games on my run in - shouldn’t have eased the pressure - and scrape third on goal difference, Champions League qualification by one point.
Come summer, none of my players want to leave. Every single one has their agent tell me they don’t want to be offered out, except Wharton, who wants out for a bigger club. Players come to me demanding better contracts, which I have no money for as the board have now slashed my budgets after the season ended and lowered my accepted wage bill. Morale goes from a full circle to less than half, player support plummeted. Players are mad, I’m mad. Resign halfway through July when no one comes to bid for my first team or subs, and everyone’s still mad about contracts.
Bournemouth are the only team anywhere in Europe looking for a new manager, so I join them - I just won manager of the season and need to strike while the iron is hot. Create tactics, get myself acquainted with the team, check the fixtures… Crystal Palace at home first day of the season. Immediately start sending free loan offers in to my favourite players, because I’m still mad about the budgets thing. Declaring interest on them all, trying anything and everything to annoy the board and my old players.
Pre-match I tell my squad we owe them from last time out, when I slapped what is now my team on this very same ground 5-2. We destroy them 4-0, they get only two shots all game. I can only stare at my screen, looking at the dismal match ratings for what used to be my guys, wondering how it all went so wrong, so fast.
I hope they get slapped out of the Champions League and get relegated. Fuck Steve Parish. Taking my money and the happiness of my first completed FM season.