football manager 2021 purchased. keeping a thread of the highs and lows of my first new FM experience since FM2015. BREAKING NEWS:

after their dreadful start to the real EPL season, i've decided to test my skills at @FulhamFC. hopefully i can restore their status as top-flight mainstays and use their prime London location to build a force to be reckoned with

spent longer than necessary picking out my new wardrobe for the big job. few options but had to settle on the classic 'suit with no tie' effort. brown brogues mandatory in case my success at Fulham leads to a call from Govan..

clearly got my work cut out as we are predicted to finish 20th in the league, with odds of 800/1 to finish top. the board have tasked me with "fighting bravely against relegation" whilst, helpfully, playing attacking football

settled on the 2 formations that will hopefully mean we can play attacking, possession-based football as demanded by the board whilst being solid enough to stay up:

a steve clarke-esque 5-3-2 and a more exciting 4-2-3-1 for when we play the other basement dwellers in the league

realised that i haven't heard of half the Fulham squad and might need to bring in some new faces to mount our fight against relegation. a truly disgraceful transfer budget means i'll need to offload some dead-wood before i can bring in anybody decent

Maxime Le Marchand, Tim Ream, Stefan Johansen and Kevin McDonald are all transfer listed and deemed surplus to requirements. they are offered to other clubs and i'm shocked to find that we have offers for Le Marchand, Ream and Johansen
(don't worry Kev, we'll find you somewhere)

One of the early highlights of my career is Wuhan FC's interest in Maxime Le Marchand, and i accept a £6m bid. good business for a 30 year old and i assure him that there is no such thing as COVID-19. hopefully he fancies a new life in China

i'm still getting used to the new features of FM21 and stumble on the team's 'dynamics' page, which shows the team's hierarchy and social groups. i'm concerned to see that I have transfer listed 3 of the team's 4 most influential players