The end of March. A crucial point in the season. The end of the last mid-season international break and that period where the fate of teams who may find themselves in a more precarious position than planned slowly starts to take shape, with the proverbial “squeaky bum time” beginning to truly sink in as the hopes and dreams which held so strong at the beginning of the season finally start to fade as fans set about accepting the ominous disappointment that may be about ensue upon their club.
This time of year is also a crucial point in the Football Manager cycle. A point where after some 4 or 5 months of gameplay, many saves begin to falter and eventually die as the novelty of a new game wears off and the often inevitable boredom of an existing save combined with a yearning for something new starts to creep in.
If that time is now for you - fear not, here are 10 Teams that are in need of rescuing at this point of the season and need your help to turn their fortunes around and/or use your managerial prowess to rewrite their lack of progress this season.
1. Sassuolo
Currently 19th in Serie A at the time of writing, Sassuolo have consistently been a mid-table or Top 10 side since gaining promotion in 2013 and taking a place in the top tier of Italian football for the first time in their history. A 6th place finish under Eusebio Di Francesco also saw them play European football for the first time when they reached the Europa League Group Stage in 2016, followed by a very successful spell under Roberto De Zerbi where they achieved highly respectable back-to-back 8th place league finishes and thrived with the likes of Lorenzo Pellegrini, Davide Frattesi, Giacomo Raspadori, Franco Acerbi, Gianluca Scamacca, Manuel Locatelli and Matteo Politano in their squad during this successful period.
Fast-forward to the present day and things are not going so well. With 2 months of the season remaining, Sassuolo find themselves planted in the Serie A relegation zone, and despite bringing in the likes of Andrea Pinamonti, Marash Kumbula, Samu Castillejo and Matias Vina to join talisman Domenico Berardi, they have continued to struggle which culminated in the sacking of manager Alessio Dionisi in February 2024 meaning they are very much in need of your help in FM24. Are you up for the challenge?
2. Birmingham City
How many clubs do you know who won a major trophy and got relegated in the same season? Memories of a League Cup Final victory over Arsenal in 2011 are likely distant in the minds of Birmingham City fans considering the same season saw them drop to the Championship and enter continued mid-table mediocrity before spending much of the last 7 seasons engrossed in relegation battles and survival dogfights in the second tier of English football.
Annual Manager changes and chaotic leadership ensued, most notably this season wherein the club somewhat inexplicably replaced then manager John Eustace with the more “reputable” Wayne Rooney with the club lying in a very respectable 6th place in October 2023, and since then the club has tumbled down the league to the point where Rooney was sacked after 83 days in charge, leaving Birmingham in 20th place and very much embroiled in yet another relegation battle.
For a side who hasn’t played in the third tier since 1995, relegation to League 1 is almost unthinkable particularly given the size of the club, fanbase and stadium but at the time of writing the Blues stand very much on the brink of relegation sitting just one point outside the danger zone; if ever there was a time for redemption it’s now.
3. Celta Vigo
We all very much enjoyed when MaddFM was sacked by Celta Vigo in FM23 after just 4 months in charge, however their real-life fortunes are unfortunately no better at present despite being under the stewardship of the ever reliable Rafa Benitez for most of this season until his departure earlier this month, with the club currently sitting just outside the relegation zone in Spain’s top tier. Having lost starboy Gabri Veiga to the Saudi league last summer as well as talented left-back Javi Galán to Atlético Madrid, mediocre signings and poor overall performance has left the club very much in free-fall based on their form in 2024 and relegation would be disastrous for a club steeped in La Liga history who have been consistent performers at the top level since returning in 2012. Don’t let Madd curse this team forever, please.
4. Nantes
A team who has contested the Coupe De France final for the past two years in a row and played Europa League football just over 12 months ago, now find themselves currently battling relegation and in real danger of returning to the French second tier after 10 consecutive seasons in Ligue 1. Make it make sense! As the 5th most successful French club in history with 8 league title wins, it’s absurd to think this club should even be flirting with relegation but considering they are now on their 4th manager in 12 months, this period of instability has taken its toll despite having the talents of Alban Lafont, Pedro Chirivella and Mostafa Mohamed, the loss of talisman Ludovic Blas in the summer has proven more costly than planned and the danger of relegation is very much real with just 8 games remaining at the time of writing.
5. Schalke 04
It feels like this team will perennially be in a “teams to be rescued list”, particularly with repeat and ongoing financial troubles creating all kinds of rumours in terms of the club’s ability to continue should they suffer a second consecutive relegation. Having dropped to Germany’s second tier last year, their on-field struggles have continued to the point where another relegation is very much on the table in Bundesliga 2 which is almost unthinkable for a team that once boasted the likes of Manuel Neuer, Joel Matip, Malick Thiaw, Ivan Rakitic, Leon Goretzka, Julain Draxler, Mezut Ozil and Leroy Sané in their squad over the past 10-15 years not to mention multiple Champions League campaigns including a Semi-Final in 2011 and a Quarter-Final in 2017.
While their current squad is nowhere close to Schalke teams of old, for a club of this size and stature to be so far away from the top tier of German football is a travesty - FYI the German word for “rescue” is “rettung” 👌.
6. Sampdoria
The last time a club won Serie A that wasn't one of Juventus, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Roma, Lazio or Napoli? You guessed it - back in 1991 which kicked off a glorious period of Italian football for the rest of that decade, Sampdoria lifted the Scudetto title with a squad boasting the likes of Gianluca Pagliuca, Pietro Vierchowod, Attilio Lombardo, Gianluca Vialli and Roberto Mancini, and while that should have been a springboard on which these Italian giants (at least at the time) should have grown, sadly the opposite is true with the club now playing second tier football for the 6th season since and very much facing a 7th with the team languishing in mid-table at the time of writing. When you consider this is a side that has seen the likes of Duvan Zapata, Lucas Torreira, Luis Muriel, Mauro Icardi, Mikkel Damsgaard, Milan Skriniar and Bruno Fernandes all pass through Sampdoria in recent years, financial issues and mis-management at the higher levels have pushed the club into yet another downfall with little light at the end of the tunnel for I Blucerchiati fans who are crying out to be rescued with current hopes resting on the shoulders of Andrea Pirlo - can you do better?
7. Reading
We spoke about financial issues, but Reading arguably take the proverbial biscuit in that category. HMRC sanctions, unpayable debts and wages, multiple points deductions - their fall from grace has been beyond belief and understandably Royals fans are outraged at how poorly the club has been managed. After setting the English Championship record winning the league with an incredible 106 points back in 2006, Reading went on to finish 8th in their first Premier League season under Steve Coppell with impressive performances from the likes of Marcus Hahnemann, Nicky Shorey, Steve Sidwell, Stephen Hunt, Leroy Lita and Kevin Doyle. The following season was much more disappointing, at the end of which Reading were relegated back to the Championship and despite a fleeting return to the Premier League in 2012, further demise ensued as they tumbled down the championship table season after season until the club were disastrously relegated to League 1 in 2023, and at the time of writing their misery continues with the club lying in 18th position and not yet safe from a second consecutive relegation - if ever there was a club in need of rescue, it’s Reading.
8. Bordeaux
In May 2009, FC Girondins de Bordeaux were crowned Ligue 1 champions, becoming the first club to do so since 2001 and dethroning a Lyon side who had won the previous 7 league titles prior. 13 years later, Bordeaux were relegated to Ligue 2 for the first time since 1991 amidst much financial turmoil and chaos at board level.
This is a madness. A 6-time French champions which once boasted names such Zinedine Zidane, Bixente Lizarazu, Sylvain Wiltord, Eric Cantona and Christophe Dugarry (also Henri Saivet but the less said about that the better) - for them to be in their second consecutive season in Ligue 2 and at present languishing around mid-table is a travesty.
9. Mainz O5
Since getting promoted to the Bundesliga in 2009, Mainz have been a mainstay (insert pun here) in the German top tier ever since, regularly obtaining mid-table and/or Top 10 league finishes with the highlight being a Europa League campaign following a 6th place finish in 2016. Their rise to prominence has been rapid over the past 15 seasons which has seen players such as Taiwo Awoniyi, Moussa Niakhaté, Jonas Hoffman and Jean-Philippe Mateta all go on to make big money moves elsewhere, with Mainz very much viewed as a place for younger players to thrive and develop playing in a progressive high-pressing system (particularly interesting that former Mainz Managers included Jurgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel).
Fast-forward to 2024 and things are not quite as rosy as previous years; at the time of writing they are 6 points from safety, occupying 16th place which would mean a playoff against whoever finishes 3rd in the division below which no team would ever wish upon themselves given the stakes at hand. Despite the talents of Tom Krauß and Nadiem Amiri in addition to the power of strikers Ludovic Ajorque and Jonathan Burkhardt, just 3 wins from 26 games has them in a perilous position just one point above the automatic relegation places - new manager Bo Henriksen is the man Mainz hope will be the saviour, but maybe you can do better 👀.
10. Everton
We talked about clubs that have been in freefall; parking Financial Fair Play, poorly-timed Stadium Builds, random managerial appointments and overall questionable decision-making at board-level to the side for now - Everton are a club who have almost lost their entire identity in recent seasons, particularly on-field where their performances have been dull and drab at best for a club who previously have earned thirteen Top 8 league finishes since the year 2000 and regularly contended for European if not Champions League football, and now find themselves battling relegation for a third successive season after 16th and 17th place finishes in the past two season respectively. Glory days under David Moyes are almost a distant memory, as are the standout performances of the likes of Tim Cahill, Romelu Lukaku, Marouane Fellaini and even Dominic Calvert-Lewin who was once battling Harry Kane to be England’s first-choice striker. While Sean Dyche has brought an element of stability and consistency to what is ultimately a poor squad struggling to compete at this level, it’s clear that some form of overhaul is needed throughout the club, and where better to do so than in Football Manager.
There we have it - a lot of teams in need of rescue, and a lot of choice to go with it! If you have found yourself at that point where a new save is on the cards or if you simply love a challenge, then rescuing, reinvigorating and ultimately restoring one of these clubs to glory might be just what the doctor ordered to get you back on track and back in the thick of FM24 once more, with a long time still to go until news of FM25 beings to dissipate from the powers that be. Until then - there’s work to be done 🛠️.
Thanks for reading - let us know in the comments below if any of the clubs above have tempted you into a new save!
Skin: https://coffeehousefm.com/fmrensieblog/fm24-rensie-custom-skin
