Football Manager - Your Career

[Luke Imp]

I've started with Liverpool, now about mid-November I think.

Mid-table in the PL with a game in hand (a win takes me in the Top 6), won 5 out of 5 in my CL Group and got through the Carling Cup rounds as well.

Didn't buy anyone because there was nothing that stood out and I didn't have a massive amount of spend anyway. Sold Toure (£500k) and Johnson (£7m) but most of my work went on re-building my backroom staff (15 out, 15 in). Training ground, youth facilities and youth recruitment all being improved as well as the planned expansion.

 

[City169]

Club Team Targets-
League- Finish above mid-table
Serie C Cup- Reach first round (Achieved)

National Team Targets-
European Championship Qualifying- Be competitive

Club Team

After 2 recent defeats, a home game against Pontedera was a great opportunity to get back to winning ways, but an own goal mid-way through the first half meant it wasn't going to be easy but a goal apiece from my 2 centre forwards in the second half, secured the win, leaving us in 3rd after 8 games.

Another home game, this time against Pro Piacenza ended in a 1-1 draw, the result leaving us 8 behind the league leaders already.

Into the Serie C Cup 1st round next, and the away game against Savoia in which we were favourites. It didn't take long to establish a 2 goal lead, but a soft penalty gave Savoia a way back into the game. But a dull second half ensured a win and passage into the second round, where we would face Savona at home.

Following the drubbing by England for the national team, the club side had to face an away trip to top of the league Pisa and at first they may as well have been sightseeing, Pisa having no troubles taking an early lead. The performance improved though and we went in level at the break. Some words of encouragement and we managed to are the lead in the second half, but it didn't take long for Pisa to equalise. The dirty fuckers then injured both of my players that scored.

National Team

England was always going to be a tough game, and I set myself a target of not losing by 5 or more. A fluke goal put us 1-0 up after 8 minutes, but a controversial penalty was given to England and it was 1-1 after 20 minutes. It took just 2 minutes for England to score again, and a 3rd quickly followed. England picked up where the left off in the second half with Henderson scoring their fourth before Sterling completed his hat-trick. Full-time: 5-1 to England.

No rest for the wicked, and the day after drawing against Pisa was an international in, and against Switzerland. It took just 11 minutes for Switzerland to create a 3 goal lead, and it was 6 by half-time. It got worse as we went down to 10 men after and hour courtesy of an injury. Goal number 7 came after 85 minutes, goal 8 after 89 minutes, but fortunately there was no more humiliation to come from this game.

Despite conceding 21 goals and scoring only 3 after 4 games in charge (including the friendly) the FA are satisfied with how I am doing.

Club Team Targets-
League- Finish above mid-table
Serie C Cup- Reach first round (Achieved)

National Team Targets-
European Championship Qualifying- Be competitive

Club Team

Next in the league was a trip to Gubbio where a 3-1 away win kept the club side unbeaten in competitive games.
After this we welcomed Savona to the San Marino Stadium, where a tight game was won, courtesy of an own goal from a Savona defender and a wonder goal. I finished the game with just 10 men due to an injury.

Post match the Serie C Cup 1st and 2nd round draws were made, I was drawn away against Serie C/C side Savoia, then provided I beat them I would face Savona at home once more.

The games keep coming thick and fast, next up was an away trip to Teramo, top of the league with 4 wins from 4 games. This game was always going to be tough and it was no surprise when Teramo took an early lead, that goal remained the difference until the 87th minute when Teramo scored on the counter, then a defensive lapse gifted a third goal, resulting in the first competitive defeat for San Marino.

Next up a home game against Santarcangelo, another strong side which wasn't made any easier by a red card received after 11 minutes. Despite the man disadvantage it was 1-0 after 25 minutes and after some words of encouragement at half time a second soon followed. However things took a turn for the worse as first an injury hit, and then Santarcangelo pulled a goal back. On the 85th minute a second red card was shown, making the game 10 v 10 for the remainder.

Away once more, this time against Prato where things started poorly, 1-0 down after 6 minutes, 2-0 after 21. There were signs of improvement before half time, but no goals. A bright start to the second half saw a goal pulled back, but nothing more came of it, meaning a second defeat in 3 games.

National Team

The next game was away against Slovenia in the Euro Qualifiers, things didn't start well, going 1-0 down through an own goal after just 15 seconds. Things went from bad to worse as Slovenia made it 2-0 after 3 minutes. Goal number 3 went in after 15 minutes. After half time things looked like they were picking up as we pulled a goal back just 20 seconds after the restart. However the upturn was brief and Slovenia soon restored their 3 goal lead. As the game drew to its end I picked up 2 injuries and ended with just 9 men on the pitch.

 

[yellow]

So..Swansea.

An extremely busy summer saw 20+ players leave, including many first teamers. In total I managed to bring in over £85m in transfer fees, which has helped the financial situation at the club massively. £35m has been spent on the first team, which is around 19 strong now.

Five games into the new season and we're top. Four wins from the first four games (albeit all fairly easy) saw us create a clear gap, but we've just gone down 2-0 at Old Trafford in a game we could have been smashed. A tactical gamble failed.

My record against the big sides in the PL since I took over at Swansea reads:

2023/24:

Man C 4-1 Swansea
Swansea 0-2 Liverpool
Chelsea 8-2 Swansea
Man Utd 4-0 Swansea
Arsenal 3-1 Swansea
Swansea 1-4 Man City
Liverpool 1-1 Swansea

2024/25:

Man Utd 2-0 Swansea

My next run of games reads:

Chelsea (a) - Capital One Cup 3rd round
Arsenal (H)
Liverpool (a)
Chelsea (h)

God help me.

 

[yellow]

So fucking difficult to get anything right against the top teams. Fuming.

 

[yellow]

Chelsea 4-1 Swansea
Swansea 0-3 Arsenal
Liverpool 4-1 Swansea

#thestreakcontinues

 

[City169]

Club Team Targets-
League- Finish above mid-table
Serie C Cup- Reach first round (Achieved)

National Team Targets-
European Championship Qualifying- Be competitive

Club Team

After 2 recent defeats, a home game against Pontedera was a great opportunity to get back to winning ways, but an own goal mid-way through the first half meant it wasn't going to be easy but a goal apiece from my 2 centre forwards in the second half, secured the win, leaving us in 3rd after 8 games.

Another home game, this time against Pro Piacenza ended in a 1-1 draw, the result leaving us 8 behind the league leaders already.

Into the Serie C Cup 1st round next, and the away game against Savoia in which we were favourites. It didn't take long to establish a 2 goal lead, but a soft penalty gave Savoia a way back into the game. But a dull second half ensured a win and passage into the second round, where we would face Savona at home.

Following the drubbing by England for the national team, the club side had to face an away trip to top of the league Pisa and at first they may as well have been sightseeing, Pisa having no troubles taking an early lead. The performance improved though and we went in level at the break. Some words of encouragement and we managed to are the lead in the second half, but it didn't take long for Pisa to equalise. The dirty fuckers then injured both of my players that scored.

National Team

England was always going to be a tough game, and I set myself a target of not losing by 5 or more. A fluke goal put us 1-0 up after 8 minutes, but a controversial penalty was given to England and it was 1-1 after 20 minutes. It took just 2 minutes for England to score again, and a 3rd quickly followed. England picked up where the left off in the second half with Henderson scoring their fourth before Sterling completed his hat-trick. Full-time: 5-1 to England.

No rest for the wicked, and the day after drawing against Pisa was an international in, and against Switzerland. It took just 11 minutes for Switzerland to create a 3 goal lead, and it was 6 by half-time. It got worse as we went down to 10 men after and hour courtesy of an injury. Goal number 7 came after 85 minutes, goal 8 after 89 minutes, but fortunately there was no more humiliation to come from this game.

Despite conceding 21 goals and scoring only 3 after 4 games in charge (including the friendly) the FA are satisfied with how I am doing.

Club Team Targets-
League- Finish above mid-table
Serie C Cup- Reach first round (Achieved)

National Team Targets-
European Championship Qualifying- Be competitive

Club Team

After a depressing end to the last part of the challenge, the club side had a home game against Reggiana. A first minute goal was a good start to the game, which only got better when a Reggiana player conceded a penalty and got sent off after 22 minutes. A second red card 2 minutes later meant that for 3/4 of the game I was playing against 9 men so it was no surprise when goals 3 and 4 came in the second half. After 90 minutes San Marino had a red card, meaning the game finished as 10 v 9.

After such a comprehensive win I was looking forward to the next game, away against Tuttocuolo, who, after 11 games, still didn't have a single league victory. A disappointing result followed with a 1-1 draw, the match being overshadowed by yet another injury causing one of my strikers to be out for 5 months.

Following that result, the club is still on a high, sitting in 3rd and unbeaten competitively at home heading into the Serie C Cup 2nd round tie at home to Savona who we had already beaten at home once this season. Now, we all know that every run, good or bad, must come to and end, but that wasn't going to be the case here as a goal after half an hour broke the deadlock in my favour. A second goal followed 5 minutes later and at half-time San Marino had 1 foot on the third round. Neither team did anything of note in the second half and a trip to Serie C/A side Renate

Luchesse Libertas were next up, in another home game, it took just 6 minutes to take the lead, 6 minutes later, however and it was 1-1 and after 26 minutes Luchesse Libertas had taken a surprise lead. The goals continued and on the 30th minute it was all square once more

National Team
Haven't had anything to do.


Will make this the last massive post about how things are going. I have started a blog where I will go more in depth with progress on each of the saves I am doing if anyone can be arsed to read it and will do briefer updates on here occasionally.

If anyone wants to find the blog, which isn't very good truth be told, then here it is- fm15adventures.blogspot.co.uk

 

[Techno Natch]

Good write ups mate I've been enjoying them. I doubt I will remember to check the blog unfortunately so feel free to post in here too.

My third season at Wednesday has started okay with 2 wins from 3. I've played 3 teams that will be up the top end of the season as well I think. Aim for me is the play offs again. I will try to write a proper update in the week.

 

[The Hand of Dom]

Divock Origi is a stupid c***.

Scored 18 in 14 games against me now. Fuck the fuck off you fuck.

 

[Womble98]

Had a brilliant start to the second season. In November I was 4th, and my aim had been to battle against relegation. I am doing very well in the FA cup, had a lucky tie, Lewes, Luton, Mansfield then Reading, beat Reading, next round I am about to play vs Chelsea at home. I have lost 13 games in a row in the league, I am currently in March, I haven't won a league game since the new year. I think my early good form has saved me from the threat of relegation, I am on 47 points, just need a few more now.

 

[Luke Imp]

Mid-February.

Top 4 (Man City, Man Utd, Chelsea and Everton) are way ahead. Had a poor opening 10 games in the league due to the new tactics on a new game - the usual. So, 5th will be the highest I get.

In the latter stages of the Carling Cup, FA Cup and sailed through my CL group (PGS, SLB and Red Bull Salz) winning 6 out of 6. Got Juventus in the first knockout game and beat them 2-1, away, in the first leg.

Borini and Sturridge should hit 20 goals each and Balotelli 15.

 

[Luke Imp]

Since the above, Chelsea spanked me 4-0 in the FA Cup Semi and lost in the semi of the Carling Cup!

Beat Juventus 5-1 in the second leg and just beat Barca 1-0 in the quarter 1st leg. Going to be touch and go for 5th place. Southampton and Spurs are 3 points above me with a better GD and only 5 or so to play.

 

[JaseTheVillain]

It's fine, just win the Champions League to make up for it.

 

[Alty]

 

[Alty]

Linfield 2014/15.

What a season that was! Decent start by winning the Europa League 1st Qualifying Round tie against Aberystwyth 7-1 on aggregate and then following it with a very creditable 3-4 defeat to Esbjerg of Denmark in the next round.

I only made the one signing as there wasn't much available. That was Mark Edgar, a talented young Northern Irish left-sided midfielder who I brought in for the season from West Ham.

Then, after a good start, we had a very sticky stage in the middle of the season during which we fell a full 13 points behind reigning champions Cliftonville. However, as players started to come back from injury we began to cut the lead down. Andrew Waterworth, who scored a phenomenal 47 goals in 50 starts, was my key man. Ex Barnsley, Scunthorpe and Peterborough man, Grant McCann, also played a key role as my midfield playmaker.

We finally went top with two games to go and clinched the title by winning a 'Big Two' derby at home to Glentoran in front of 5,500 people.

We also reached the semis of both the Irish Cup and the All-Ireland Cup.

Very successful start. Thoroughly looking forward to the Champions League qualifiers and hope to be able to pick up a signing or two this season.

 

[Gulliball]

Have now won 34 of the 35 trophies in the British Steel Challenge, and I have just taken over at Aberystwyth, who will hopefully be the last club I manage. Just the Welsh Premier League Cup is needed to complete the set. I already won the League and FAW Cup when at Rhyl, so it's just this cup that matters. One defeat and I'll have to do another season, so this has the potential to be incredibly frustrating. There are no other targets to move on to either, it's all or nothing.

My career has gone Shelbourne (1 trophy), Stockport (5), Celtic (3), Man Utd (2), Livingston (2), Rangers (1), Everton (1), Annagh (1), Annan (1), Portadown (2), Birmingham (1), Rhyl (2), Sligo (4), Ballymoney (1), Man Utd (2), Cork (1), Institiute (3), Cliftonville (1).

There have been a few duplicates, but these are the 34 different trophies. It's currently February 2042, so I'm miles ahead of the 2091 it took me on FM12. That manager stopped ageing.

 

[Womble98]

Second Season round up

• Very good start, lots of new players brought in, Mawson, Appiah to name a few.
• Tailed off heavily, lost 13 games in a row. A late resurgence meant we finished within 5 points of the playoffs, not bad for a team which had been predicted relegation.
• FA Cup run was incredible, Lewes, Luton, Mansfield, Reading beaten, Chelsea beaten after they went down to 9 men, injuries and red cards. Then lost to Newcastle in the semis but I made a shit ton of money from the gates.
• Released lots of 1st season players who were on decent money.

3rd season

• Brought in a total of 12 players, 23 out.
• Highlights include Connor Mclaughin from Fleetwood for 300k, Pol Calvet from Barcelona B for 100k, Sam Clucas for 300k, Lloyd Isgrove on a free, Adrian Ortola, Barca B gk on a free, and Steve Sidwell on a free.
• I signed Mitchell Beeney on a free in the first season, sold him for a few hundred k the next season, tidy profit.
• Currently top of the league and on a long unbeaten streak.

 

[Gulliball]

Have now won 34 of the 35 trophies in the British Steel Challenge, and I have just taken over at Aberystwyth, who will hopefully be the last club I manage. Just the Welsh Premier League Cup is needed to complete the set. I already won the League and FAW Cup when at Rhyl, so it's just this cup that matters. One defeat and I'll have to do another season, so this has the potential to be incredibly frustrating. There are no other targets to move on to either, it's all or nothing.

My career has gone Shelbourne (1 trophy), Stockport (5), Celtic (3), Man Utd (2), Livingston (2), Rangers (1), Everton (1), Annagh (1), Annan (1), Portadown (2), Birmingham (1), Rhyl (2), Sligo (4), Ballymoney (1), Man Utd (2), Cork (1), Institiute (3), Cliftonville (1).

There have been a few duplicates, but these are the 34 different trophies. It's currently February 2042, so I'm miles ahead of the 2091 it took me on FM12. That manager stopped ageing.

Sunday 25th January 2043, we beat Rhyl in the final to complete the set. I like the British Steel Challenge because it's typically only one or two seasons at each club, lots of squad rebuilding and overhauls, which is what I enjoy. By picking your jobs carefully you can quite often be at a big fish in a particular division and win trophies.

I will finish the season at Aberystwyth and then end this save. No idea what to do next, it will just be a change to have real players again and not regens.

 

[JaseTheVillain]

Sunday 25th January 2043, we beat Rhyl in the final to complete the set. I like the British Steel Challenge because it's typically only one or two seasons at each club, lots of squad rebuilding and overhauls, which is what I enjoy. By picking your jobs carefully you can quite often be at a big fish in a particular division and win trophies.

I will finish the season at Aberystwyth and then end this save. No idea what to do next, it will just be a change to have real players again and not regens.

I think you should do another story at some unknown club, perhaps try your hand in the Irish division? Maybe take East Stirlingshire to European glory in Scotland...

 

[JaseTheVillain]

Or even really take the piss and take Berwick Rangers (an English club) to Scottish and European glory?

 

[Full of Gas]

Season update 2018/19 - League 2

So after another season of play-off heartache last year i'm aiming for promotion this year, we've been given one of the biggest (if not the biggest) budgets in the league, just short of £49k in the wages & over £100k in transfer funds. The following 9 players were brought in over the summer to strengthen the squad:-

Jack Vann - CB - Season long loan from Leeds - 21 years old, who I had on loan a couple of seasons ago, very good for this level & will be first choice
Connor Dimaio - DM/CM - Free from Sheffield Utd - 22 years old, high potential who'll come in as my first choice holding midfielder
Michael Cain - CM - Free from Leicester - 23 years old, will slot straight into my midfield as either the playmaker or box to box
Joshua Webb - DR/L/C - Free from Aston Villa - 23 years old, I needed a right back as Chris O'Neil isn't progressing how i'd hoped, so Webb will be first choice
Stephen Gleeson - MC - Free from Plymouth - 30 years old, experienced midfielder who'll be used as rotation
Lee Gregory - ST - Free from Millwall - 30 years old, with Clarke-Harris the only striker at the club I needed some more fire power, at 30 his attributes are still pretty decent for this level, hoping he can grab a few goals for us
Michael Kightly - M/AMR - Season long loan from Bristol City - 32 years old, needed a right sided winger as Harrison was the only one at the club, very good for this level but may need a few games to get match fit as he was signed right at the end of pre-season
Joe Pigott - ST - Free from Doncaster Rovers - 24 years old, signed as back up to Clarke-Harris & Gregory, decent when I need a target man, not alot of pace but an average player for this level
Sergi Canos - M/AMR - Free from Liverpool - 21 years old, got him right at the end of the transfer window, very high potential, not quite first choice yet but will look to give him as much game time as possible

We're in mid October at the moment and things are going pretty well, currently 2nd in the league with a record of 13 played, 8 wins, 5 draws & 0 defeats. We've just beaten Bury 1-0 to end their unbeaten start which means we're the only team left unbeaten in the league. Jonson Clarke-Harris seems to have turned himself around & has 5 goals in 12 starts so far, not great, but he's already beaten his total for last season (4). Defensively we're strong again, keeping 7 clean sheets so far. Bukran has stepped up as first choice this season, but he keeps getting called up by Hungary so Joe Murphy is stepping in every so often & hasn't conceded a goal as yet.

Our league cup run ended at the first hurdle, a fairly even 2-1 home defeat to Wolves which really could have gone either way. We were given a bye in the first round of the JPT & then faced a difficult test at home to Birmingham in the next round, after going 1 down we fought back to end up 3-1 winners, Lee Gregory grabbing a brace. We face Luton away in the next round.

Left winger Jack Barmby has been outstanding, if he can stay injury free he could be the key to promotion (fingers are well & truly crossed),Lyle Della-Verde has started to play back to his best, after a couple of midfield signings in the summer it appears to have given him a kick up the backside.

If things start to go south I still have just over £13k in the wage budget to play around with, so we really should be looking at automatic promotion this year.

Colchester at home up next who are 5th at the minute

 

[Luke Imp]

It's fine, just win the Champions League to make up for it.

BOOM! 13 wins out of 13.

Fell away in the PL when it was basically CL or bust.

 

[JaseTheVillain]

where'd you finish in the end then?

 

[Luke Imp]

8th.

Looking at the end table, I probably could have nabbed 6th but at the time, Southampton were in good form.

 

[JaseTheVillain]

Not quite matched Villa then, winning it from 11th position (the lowest placed team domestically to have won it!)

 

[Luke Imp]

Won the PL and Super Cup in my second season.

Only signed 3 players. Boruc (free), as a back-up 'keeper. He's not even played yet. Micah Richards (free) as a back-up RB and Romero (£15m), who slotted straight into CM.

Top scorers were Sturridge (43) and Balotelli (38). Borini (13), Gerrard (12) and Henderson (9) also chipped in.

 

[Luke Imp]

Been daring and spent some money!

Gerrard retired, sold Lucas and Lallana (taken a year to get rid), released Enrique and Richards (free last season, sold for £11m this!). Got Marcovic(sp) on the transfer list, too, but he's another one that no-one wants.

LB, 2x CM's and 2x ST's signed. I'm probably a CM too heavy, so I may sell one. Also got one ST too many now because I'd agreed to sign Javier Hernandez on a free before an ST I've tried to sign a few times became available for a relatively low fee (£25m).

Need to check whether Joe Allen comes under the HG status for the PL and CL. If he does, I'll keep him for that. I've tried to keep a core of English players and with Gerrard retiring and Lallana being solid, I've got Flanaghan, Wisdom (first year with me after two on loan), Henderson, Sterling and Sturridge at the minute.

Tried for Callum Chambers from Arsenal but they want too much.

 

[daviejones]

Started an Arsenal save the other day (never done a Premier League one before) and my first signing was Depay for £25m. I didn't really expect loads in his first season what with him only being 20 years old but he has turned out to be a bit of a monster. He single-handedly dragged us to the Champions League final where we lost on penalties to Bayern, and also won us the league on the last day beating Chelsea by 2 points. I don't think I've ever had an attack tear a league up as much as him, Sanchez and Giroud did. I've just signed Pogba and Vietto going into my second season as well, having sold a 28 year old Giroud to Real Madrid for £35m, so I would expect to be challenging for a treble next season. Depay's stats for all competitions are on the bottom of the picture...

 

[yellow]

Yes.

 

[Alty]

Linfield 2014/15.

What a season that was! Decent start by winning the Europa League 1st Qualifying Round tie against Aberystwyth 7-1 on aggregate and then following it with a very creditable 3-4 defeat to Esbjerg of Denmark in the next round.

I only made the one signing as there wasn't much available. That was Mark Edgar, a talented young Northern Irish left-sided midfielder who I brought in for the season from West Ham.

Then, after a good start, we had a very sticky stage in the middle of the season during which we fell a full 13 points behind reigning champions Cliftonville. However, as players started to come back from injury we began to cut the lead down. Andrew Waterworth, who scored a phenomenal 47 goals in 50 starts, was my key man. Ex Barnsley, Scunthorpe and Peterborough man, Grant McCann, also played a key role as my midfield playmaker.

We finally went top with two games to go and clinched the title by winning a 'Big Two' derby at home to Glentoran in front of 5,500 people.

We also reached the semis of both the Irish Cup and the All-Ireland Cup.

Very successful start. Thoroughly looking forward to the Champions League qualifiers and hope to be able to pick up a signing or two this season.

Linfield 2015/16.

A good follow-up season. We got a tough draw in the Champions League 2nd Qualifying Round in the shape of Anorthosis Famagusta of Cyprus. We won the first leg 2-1 in front of just under 10,000 people at Windsor Park. In the return we went 2-0 down and looked doomed heading towards the end, but the lads showed they're a gutsy lot by scoring two late goals to take us through 4-3 on aggregate. Waterworth got the equaliser in the 79th minute before Grant McCann whacked in a long ranger to seal it. What a guy.

That put us into the 3rd Qualifying Round where we faced Maribor of Slovenia. A good effort in the first leg at home saw us draw 1-1 in front of an 11,000 crowd. But we were well beaten in the away tie, losing out 2-0. A respectable effort.

From there we dropped into the Europa League Playoff Round. A good money-spinning draw in the form of Spurs. They hammered us 6-1 at Windsor in front of just under 12,000. But we improved in the return, going down just 3-1 at White Hart Line.

Surprisingly, Ballymena turned out to be our main challengers in the league. However, we wrapped up the title with a game to spare when we drew away at Ballymena in a match they needed to win to take things to the last day.

We also won the County Antrim Shield and Irish Cup (beating Glentoran and Ballymena on the way). Unfortunately we couldn't quite add the All-Ireland Cup to the list. Went out in the semis. Rested players in both legs so they'd be fresh for crucial league games in the run-in and got punished. Limerick hammered us 9-1 on aggregate.

All this meant we finished the season with a bank balance of more than £1m. We've been able to add 3 good players to the squad, shelling out around £100,000 in total. But it remains hard to attract anyone other than domestic players. The board haven't turned us full-time, nor have they sanctioned expanding the scouting network to the rest of the British Isles. And perhaps the biggest blow - playmaker and talisman Grant McCann has just retired.

It's going to be tough to make the breakthrough, I think. But let's see how we go.

 

[Techno Natch]

Sounds like a good challange.

After conceding 70 plus goals the past two seasons, I finally cracked my defensive problems and we conceded just 35 this season which is a new record.

It saw me promoted as champions in my third season at Wednesday. I finished first with 95 points, I was waiting for us to throw it away but the bad round never came. We were also top scorers in the league with 74 but H'Madiat was my top scorer with just 11 goals!

It seems my defence just needed a year to bond before it settled.