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Trying to make it to the big time in Foot ball Manager 2017
Chasing promotion in FM2017.
Nottingham Forest appointed me to save them from relegation. They were in bottom place when I was hired, but we finish the season in 14th place. Not bad. We start the next season flying high, winning six out of our first six matches. Our first cup game ends 5-2 against Tottenham Hotspur, a team with approximately 34,291,837 times as many resources as us. Could promotion be on the cards? There are still problems to contend with, not least of which is my defense, which seems to welcome the opposition with open arms. At least we’re lethal in offense. We’re leading the most-scored charts, even while maintaining our poor defensive record. Our main striker averages over a goal per game. Naturally, our campaign takes a turn for the worse when he succumbs to an injury. It’s fine. I have a 25-year-old backup, and now it’s his time to shine. He pulls his hamstring ten minutes into the following match.
Nottingham Forest’s oncemenacing offensive line is now led by an 18-year-old who confuses the goal for the corner flag. We slip to third. Then fourth. Then seventh. Eighth. Ninth, with only eight matches left. Guaranteed promotion is now off the table, but we still have the playoff places to fight for.
We need that. Bankruptcy is a real possibility. We’re overspending on wages and have no transfer budget to speak of. Some players catch the eyes of top European clubs. All I can do is pray that our returning talismanic striker continues where he left off.
From this point on, my team
my striker falls awkwardly. He’s taken off on a stretcher
becomes a caricature of itself. A 6-4 win against a mid-table side, a 6-5 sandwiched between two 2-3 losses. We take the last playoff spot by one point, then confidently win in the semis. It’s a Pyrrhic victory that costs me my goalkeeper, forcing me to rely on a two-star replacement.
Winging It
The final pits us against Middlesbrough, the only team to beat us both home and away throughout the season. Whatever happens, this will be the last time I see this line-up.
A slow start, then catastrophe: My striker falls awkwardly. He’s taken off on a stretcher. It’s time for his backup to make a reappearance, and, with any luck, overturn his misfortune. Instead, nothing. Zero-zero at half-time. We create two chances but the player who could finish them is nowhere to be found. It goes to extra time and my backup gets injured as well. I have no subs left. It’s ten against 11 for the last 20 minutes, and all that awaits us at the end is a penalty shootout we aren’t going to win.
Then, with two minutes to go, the ball bounces to a winger. He dribbles past one defender, then another. A venomous, curled shot follows. The ball fizzles past Middlesbrough’s helpless keeper. That’s it. Everyone on the pitch knows that there will be no more goals scored this day.
Against all odds, we’ve reached the promised land.