🎵 On a river where they used to build the boats, by the harbour wall the place you loved the most, I can see you there but all you know, I’ll be there - SKIP INTRO
If you haven’t seen the Netflix series, Sunderland ‘til I Die, then I’m surprised you’ve found your way here as the series was the only inspiration behind me starting this save.
Having played 2 seasons in game and achieving back to back promotions I felt I’d done what Simon Grayson, Chris Coleman & Jack Ross had failed to do and took Sunderland back to the Premier League and with it, my mission is complete… for now.
It’s time for someone new to take charge of the Mackem’s and secure their position in the top division armed with a war chest of £30m and a hefty wage budget to play with, do you fancy the challenge?
The club was taken over in October 2020 by Lee Harding, formerly of Braintree Town, and to date I’ve had no real issues with the owners getting involved with anything to do with the club.
As I stated above, the Premier League transfer budget is £35m and a wage budget of £515,700 per week (currently spending £309,627 and £80,000 of that is on loan players due to expire). One transfer has been completed at the end of the season and that was for Championship starlet, Ebere Eze, from QPR.
Although a lot of the success has come through playing the loan system, there are a couple of assets for you to build on:
Benoit Badiashile & Jimmy Dunne
At 20 & 23 respectively this duo have been fantastic at the back all year in the Championship. Badiashile’s a well known name in the Football Manager community and he’s locked in until 2024 with a release clause of £32m which is likely to attract a number of clubs in a season or two. Dunne was a bargain pickup from Burnley, he’s got all the Dyche characteristics you would want and he picks up a few goals from set-pieces as well.
Eric Court
Court is a newgen that I picked up from Hibs last year and I ever since I’ve signed him I’ve had Bergkamp vibes about him. He’s spent a season playing reserve team football scoring 28 and assisting 15 in 40 games. He’s been capped at U21 level alongside his teammate Billy Gilmour and I really think that if you played a system that suited his style he could be deadly in the hole in a few seasons time.
Ebere Eze
Eze was another investment opportunity, he was transfer listed at QPR for £12.5m and seemed a bargain at that price for someone home grown and with bags of potential. If you haven’t seen him in real life, just have a little Google, he’s great fun.
So, do you fancy it?
If you do, here are a few notes from the outgoing manager:
I’ve played 2 seasons with an attacking 4-2-4.
In the second season I set up with a pacy attack, the loan signings of Nketiah, Obafemi, and Hudson-Odoi allowed us to be lethal on the counter and with Billy Gilmour’s fantastic passing we were set up perfectly.
You’ll be a bit light at full back and you’ll need to replace the spaces left when the loanees return to their parent clubs.
So all that’s left is for me to add the download link for the save below, I’ve also added a link for the tactic as well, just in case you fancied tinkering with it.
Good luck and make sure you keep me updated by tweeting me @FridayNightFM.