FM's Sons of the Rock

  With the beta dropping on Thursday evening, I went through the manager creation process, choosing to have a National C level coaching qualification, and non-football local career as an Analyst. I picked the real world database, which is where any real-world transfers in and out for Dumbarton play out in those first few months - given I wanted to play as a slow build, I figured having those transfers would be a fair way to do this........I would say this was possibly a mistake, as it became confusing, whilst also learning a new UI, who was arriving, or possibly leaving, whilst also trying to sort out tactics. Forecast is to finish 8th, which is partly due to our 5pt deduction, which is an overhang from last season's going into administration whilst in League One.   The board is expecting a mid-table finish. Preseason, I tried out a 4-3-3 counter-attacking tactic which worked well, including taking the scalp of Championship Partick Thistle in the group phase of the Premie...

The not knowing when Early Access for FM26 is going to be, is both a relief and stress-induced. I am hyped and excited to play it as soon as possible, but also relieved it is not here just yet, as I have other real-life commitments to deal with first. My hope is that it will come out on Thursday evening next week, and I can start to play it the following day. My initial aim, is to spend a fair bit of time on Day1 of the game, so I can explore all aspects about Dumbarton, from the facilities and finances, reputation and season expectations, and most important of all, learning about the players and staff - especially since I am not going to doing the classic mass clearout, as I want this to be a slow grow campaign. One other thing, for the first time, I treated myself to the away top, and a scarf, so I guess this makes me a honorary fan????