I'm playing the friendlies for Season 2 right now. 

Loughgall of the Northern Irish Division 2 is the team I'm playing. The first season saw us make the Championship Group in 6th place. Unfortunately, we had almost no shot at a top 3 finish which would have put us in the playoff for promotion. Therefore, I chose to play a 15 year old Goalkeeper to get him some experience. We lost 4 in a row then tied the last game of the season to finish in 6th.

We were locked into 6th place at worst given our inclusion in the Championship Group. This insured a top-half finish as their are 12 teams in the league. The Club Vision was for a top-half finish in Season 1 and making the playoffs in Season 2. Luckily for me this has now changed to another top-half finish in Season 2. 

I have brought in a good bit of non-contract players to lower payroll and have only decreased the overall talent a bit. Hopefully the youngsters develop quickly and I can squeak into the top-half in Season 2. Then in Season 3 I can look for promotion to the Danske Premier League. While it would be nice to get promoted this season, it just isn't realistic with my having not improved the team enough during season 1. Also, some of the talent has transferred out or will go in January.

My thoughts are we most likely get off to a rough start to the season as I figure out the way these guys need to play. Then in the 2nd and 3rd round robins, we climb into the top-half of the league. If we can survive Season 2 and not get fired, Season 3 should be our best ever. 

The league plays 33 games which is 3 games against the other 11 teams in the league. At that point it splits into a Championship Group and a Relegation Group. Each group consists of 6 teams. Therefore, a top-half finish means after 33 games we need to be in 6th place or better to make the Championship Group.

I do post somewhat regular updates on YouTube. I'm going to link the first two videos. There are 6 and soon to be 7 videos of my Loughgall play-thru. If you are interested in FM, please watch, like and comment on the videos. Also sub to the channel and ring the bell.