The Football Manager 2017 Thread - Sponsored by Brexit.

[Adamski]

My best saves have been big nations with small clubs. Hansa Rostock on FM12 and Aversa Normanna on 15.

I like to try and do academy players only but I'm not really good enough tactically for that so it never sticks.

This could be good if I can get promoted this season or next. Found a tactic on SI which fitted my current formation and most of my roles. It's the shape/mentality and team instructions I struggle with so having this has helped loads and results have improved massively.

[Smiffy]

I've just been sticking in 5m release clauses, they ask for an extra 5% pay rise or £100 more wages but well worth it.

That's OK when you're lower down the ladder but keeping on top of it is something I struggle with. I'm likely to lose a Messi newgen/regen whatever for £5m after forgetting about them for example. It's enough to put me off Spain.

I enjoyed Italy until the non-eu business. Scotland might be alright for the short term but for me it goes:

England > Germany > Italy > Spain > France. England would be great with less money, Germany would be great with a few bigger clubs but as is the challenge ends when Bayern do, Italy was a great one but not so much any more. Spain for the reasons above and then France whereby if it's not a club like Strasbourg or Auxerre then I'm not interested. Overtake PSG then it's done and dusted.

[Yevrah]

What exactly is the non-EU business in Italy and how's that changed from previous versions?

It used to be buying two per season, which was manageable if somewhat restrictive.

[Dark Soldier]

Got a regen hair/face pack ting. Brought some life back into my save now all my regens look pretty decent.

Malory is so dreamy :drool:

https://i.gyazo.com/fa751913793fcb2b659b13a6bac5ed75.png

But Gabino, my star player, looks like a total cunt:

https://i.gyazo.com/f064c31f3ad7eed20292d726b6e28172.png

Dat bone structure:

https://i.gyazo.com/fdd6d26e30e02cfa5c612243e71f0fa8.png

[Smiffy]

My best saves have been big nations with small clubs. Hansa Rostock on FM12 and Aversa Normanna on 15.

I like to try and do academy players only but I'm not really good enough tactically for that so it never sticks.

This could be good if I can get promoted this season or next. Found a tactic on SI which fitted my current formation and most of my roles. It's the shape/mentality and team instructions I struggle with so having this has helped loads and results have improved massively.

It's always the small clubs that are the best I find. I tried to start a save with Barcelona just so I got a chance to play with the best but the fun was sucked out before I even kicked off the league season.

I've mentioned it before but I play the game more on what's realistic when plotting my moves. I could have had a few jobs after Tranmere but jumping from them to a Premier League club doesn't seem right. The last one I had was great as it was all within X amount of miles of where I started. Ideally I'm thinking some success with Rangers, move to the Premier League and restore a clubs fortunes, take on an international gig for a while (I never do well internationally) before taking in Europe's big leagues then journeyman it for a while. I never quite get that far as one wrong 'career' move ruins my CV. Success with home town club before getting relegated with Ashton United was almost a killer blow but rebuilt reputation with Edinburgh University, after that it all kind of went to shit again.

[Smiffy]

What exactly is the non-EU business in Italy and how's that changed from previous versions?

It used to be buying two per season, which was manageable if somewhat restrictive.

That's exactly my problem. You can have X amount but can't register new ones until an old one has gone or something. Too much for my simple mind. Recent save I had I recall signing two top notch South Americans only to be unable to use them at all as I had too many non-eu's already at the club (which was when I found out about the registration rule I think)

Probably has been that way for a fair while but then I still play 0102 as well whereby it's a goldmine for it so I probably get mixed up.

[wullie]

2021/22

First season back up in the spiritual home (actual spiritual home: 17th place on goal difference on the last day) and wasn't tipped to do much

http://i.imgur.com/t4aM0jr.png

Transfer business. Nhaga and Sterling didn't really feature but should come good, Murphy was a steal at half a mil, Henry and Linetty were pretty much panic buys in reaction to a nightmare start that was turned around as they improved the team

http://i.imgur.com/z6Lsw07.png

Started with four defeats then battered Spurs and Southampton on the way to a steady improvement and then a creamy middle. Relegation-threatened Everton dispatched us twice, while I did the double over an Arsenal team I've beaten in every single competitive game so far (only three, mind)

http://i.imgur.com/Jothd8I.png

http://i.imgur.com/Mxfsa5X.png

I have a habit of getting in players we've had in real life, so Adam Armstrong from Forest in January was decent backup whereas Murphy was a regular from the start

http://i.imgur.com/hA0Dsnm.png

Andre Dozzell came in for a second loan season, despite West Ham having no interest in him they won't even entertain a bid from me. I think Bilic hates me

http://i.imgur.com/IzspFlH.png

First-choice striker Matthew Knox scored a decent 11 goals in the league, but it was during his comeback from a mid-season injury that he had a bit of a game

http://i.imgur.com/fJhzrYB.png

I'm convinced at this point Bigi will win the player of the season award if he only comes on for half an hour on the final day

http://i.imgur.com/L7jfKlo.png

Had a very sudden news from my chairman that he was planning on retiring. As the previous takeover was stretched out I thought it might be next season, but then two days later the ball was rolling

http://i.imgur.com/h6yEuhC.png

MASSIVE INVESTMENT!

Another few days later it went through with no fuss, and I was greeted by the great news

http://i.imgur.com/Wcv0UAo.png

NO INVESTMENT

Luckily after the season finished it was mo money, no problems

http://i.imgur.com/rmDLIAb.png

That's possibly more than Cov have spent on transfers in our entire history combined, and a tenth of that was Craig fucking Bellamy.

[Baz]

Got a regen hair/face pack ting. Brought some life back into my save now all my regens look pretty decent.
The Debski one? Is he still only giving the password out to donators? :stop:

[Giggles]

I'd purposely not give a penny for calling it a 'donation'. If you want paid then just call it what it is.

[Yevrah]

Don't you get in massive shit with SI for doing that?

I can't remember what site it was, but SI took massive umbrage to those chancers and their FM guide (with a £9.99 price point) a while back.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Don't you get in massive shit with SI for doing that?

I can't remember what site it was, but SI took massive umbrage to those chancers and their FM guide (with a £9.99 price point) a while back.

https://community.sigames.com/topic/392642-fm17mod-debskis-world-of-hairstyles-2580-new-regen-hairstyles-released-1912/

They removed it.

He does say it will be out later for people who don't want to donate.

[Yevrah]

To be fair to Mr Weatherby, he's nailed that by calling bullshit.

[wullie]

Brexit's finally kicked in. I've been denied work permits because the Canadian national team aren't good enough and a Romanian winger playing for Bournemouth doesn't have enough of some kind of points. I have the option to sign them and re-apply after 120 days, but there's no reason to believe it'll work so I'm paying premium for prime English beef from here on in.

[Yevrah]

Killed your save?

[wullie]

Nah, muddling through. If it didn't coincide with the first summer I've been handed a massive pot of cash I'd probably be fucked though.

[Baz]

https://community.sigames.com/topic/392642-fm17mod-debskis-world-of-hairstyles-2580-new-regen-hairstyles-released-1912/

They removed it.

He does say it will be out later for people who don't want to donate.I tried to crack it but it's a 7zip file. Nobody uses that. :nono:

[Dark Soldier]

The Debski one? Is he still only giving the password out to donators? :stop:

Nah its a free one, some FM16 one just edited to FM17. Like fuck I'd pay for haircuts :ae:

[Yevrah]

Really want to play a game, but having spent ages looking for an interesting one to do I'm out of ideas so I've gone with my home town of Norwich.

Been a while since I bothered with them and I can't recall ever winning the Champions League with them so that'll be something to aim for.

I've also gone with DS' brexit removal data file as frankly, that shit can fuck off.

[Smiffy]

I didn't mind the Brexit feature at first but now I firmly believe it should have been an on/off option.

What happened to Queens Park, Yev?

[Yevrah]

I looked at Queen's Park, but I just couldn't be arsed as I hate playing with amateur clubs for any length of time, watching your players get robbed one by one. They've also somehow got themselves promoted to League One, which would have led to several thumpings at the hands of the pro teams there and another fun game of morale manager.

Still, onwards and upwards. I've just met with Delia and she was very pleasant. On the downside, I've just gone through all the youngsters in the reserves and youth team and (as it seems in every version of FM with Norwich) they're all wank.

This is the only one who has made the "I'll keep him for now" cut and that's only because my scouts rate him so highly and his value suggests he might be decent.

https://s27.postimg.org/nff99004z/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/y292ef8a7/)

In more good news, we have one measly loan that will be paid off by the end of the season and we'll be debt free (which I always strive for) and we somehow have over £50m in the bank. Which may be a buffer to service our obscene wage bill (£700k p/w), but is nice nonetheless.

[Smiffy]

That's a shame but I get what you mean, it's a huge pain in the ass. I was looking forward to a few of us running the same save.

[Yevrah]

A cracking start with 7 wins in a row has dropped off somewhat in the last few of games, with Portsmouth disappointingly knocking us out of the League Cup and Newcastle winning the top of the table SHOWDOWN.

https://s30.postimg.org/97voc8r75/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/bp7fjib3h/)[/url]

Leaving the table like so after 10 matches.

https://s27.postimg.org/xhlaxan2b/Untitled.jpg (https://postimage.org/)[url=https://postimage.org/]

The board want promotion (as do I) and while finishing ahead of Newcastle would be a struggle I'd be disappointed if we didn't get it.

On another note, I'd forgotten what a total fucking slog a 46 game season is. Absolutely ridiculous number of games.

[Yevrah]

Top top work DS.

https://s28.postimg.org/whgcgxslp/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/5wdtldq89/)

:hat:

[Mike]

Nah its a free one, some FM16 one just edited to FM17. Like fuck I'd pay for haircuts :ae:

Link us up?

My big hope has hair that simply makes me sad.
https://i.imgur.com/zPj0SHC.png

[Pen]

I quite like Brexit in the game. Makes managing in England more fun. I probably wouldn't have thought so if it had happened before I reached the Premier league though.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

http://i.imgur.com/PCJHeOS.png

Geezer.

Third time someone in my team has scored five (other two both by my main striker Goosens) but Kone is the only one who also grabbed some assists.

[Yevrah]

What do data analysts actually do in this game? Will I lose anything through sacking them all off?

[Jimmy Floyd]

I think they give you better stats and oppo feedback. Could be wrong. Like forensic scouts.

[Baz]

I've gone from Liberia U20's manager to Ivory Coast proper. :cool:

Franck Kessie looks an absolute beast.

[Yevrah]

I think they give you better stats and oppo feedback. Could be wrong. Like forensic scouts.

Better stats?

[Jimmy Floyd]

This sort of stuff:

http://i.imgur.com/f9ASVpW.png

Presumably having better data analysts improves the feedback you get on the various iterations of that in-game.

[Giggles]

What stats should they have? I just hire who Les Reed suggests.

[Yevrah]

First season done with Norwich and we ran away with it in the end.

https://s29.postimg.org/fm33aud3b/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/ln0s7wzpf/)[/url]

And the squad.

https://s27.postimg.org/kgja7vjxf/Untitled.jpg (https://postimage.org/)

Think I posted the couple of defenders we got on freebies at the start of the season above, since that point the following couple of players came in:

https://s27.postimg.org/jmt2pebfn/Untitled.jpg (https://postimage.org/)

Picked him up for a £1k after his loan at Stoke expired. Had him during the Oulu game and he's rapidly becoming my favourite player in this version. Took a while to settle in the Championship, but ended up scoring 12 goals for us after Naismith fucked himself for 11 months. Just need a face pic for him now.

https://s30.postimg.org/nrefsiq3l/Untitled.jpg (https://postimage.org/)[url=https://postimage.org/]

Came through the spring youth intake and I really like the look of him. Well, not his face obviously, that looks like Frankenstein's creation, but his stats look properly promising for a poacher. Played him a couple of times but he's yet to find the net.

Game date is now 8th May 2017 and I've been given a £33m transfer budget and have £300k surplus on the wage budget. I could go balls deep in a couple of reasonable signings, but I think I'd rather try and moneyball the shit out of the save. I've also grown quite attached to the squad so I'd like to give them a chance in the Premier League (another chance for most of them :nono:), but I will need to do a bit of strengthening as long term injuries to Naismith and Klose will see them miss the start of the season and I still have a number of players in the squad that just won't cut it. The Murphy twins are once again looking useless, I never seem to be able to get anything out of them.

On the club progression side of things, I'm trying to get an affiliate for work permits and the Training and Youth facilities are in the process of being upgraded, both of which will complete by October 2017.

[Reg]

Cracking season Yev. Looks like Jerome and Oliveira bossed it.

[Yevrah]

Cheers. Yeah, Jerome's a beast at Championship level. Sadly I'd be surprised if he's up to the Premier League. Oliveira might stand a chance mind.

[wullie]

I don't know what's wrong with Mike Owens, but I'd fire your entire medical team before you're arrested.

[Raoul Duke]

Who else went up apart from you and Newcastle?

[Yevrah]

Playoffs are just about to start.

Spent all afternoon looking for moneyball players. :D

[Jimmy Floyd]

First season with Dortmund was quite enjoyable in that we played some good stuff at times, and scored a lot of goals, but also quite dull in that nothing much really happened.

http://i.imgur.com/xlgXWYZ.png

We never looked like finishing outside the top 4, and after a ropey November, pulled away into a clear 2nd for the rest of the year. Bayern were utterly ruthless however, scoring 10 fewer than our 75 goals, but their defence was far tighter and they won about 18 on the trot either side of the winter break. They had ten 2-0 wins which just about sums them up. We are as good as them, probably, but have more bad days. The rest were pretty friendly, Leverkusen being the best of them but they collapsed towards the end and let Schalke in for third. Frankfurt and Freiburg went down.

In Europe, we were pretty meh in the group but scraped through ahead of PSV and Besiktas, and behind Paris S-G. We drew Arsenal in the next round and won the first leg 1-0 at Signal Failure Park, but went over there and had one of those games where every time they come forward it's an automatic goal, lost 5-2 or something in the end.

The less said about the cup the better, went out to fourth division Essen with a strong side out. It went a bit mental, Essen went deep into it and the final is Bayern against Union Berlin or some mad shit.

http://i.imgur.com/4CY4fsW.png

Those were my leading chaps, we were a much better side after I sent Southampton the family jewellery for van Dijk in January. We're also a much better side with Götze and Reus, but they are the most highly strung pair of injury prone dickheads I can remember, they get thigh strains from sitting down.

It's quite a likeable squad so I'm not really sure how to strengthen it next, perhaps with depth and youths, but we have a lot of those as well.

[Smiffy]

I've decided to play a career out for To Madeira II. The fifteen year old son of Portuguese legend and current SC Braga manager, To Madeira.

http://s30.postimg.org/svqxdkgw1/screenshot_677.png

Any off spring of To Madeira is bound to be a fine specimen so I kept things realistic.

http://s30.postimg.org/erv2569oh/screenshot_679.png

:D

http://s30.postimg.org/ak09wf88x/screenshot_680.png

[Shindig]

I did that with Ronaldinho in CM3 (because I didn't look at the database hard enough) and his aggression stat led to him scoring 4 and then being banned for 18 games for violent conduct. Should be fun, Smiff.

[P_3]

https://i.gyazo.com/7712438f37d4b94c8810ba9ecbac9e60.png

Following on from last season's relegation of Fiorentina, Inter shockingly drop down to Serie B in 2017/18. :drool:

[Giggles]

Giggles what's your lineup / tactic?

Mainly:

http://i.imgur.com/LuYCIc2.png

[Adamski]

No instructions or anything?

[Giggles]

I never have instructions unless it's a tactic I download as I don't know enough about it or what I actually want it to do. I have up on tactics when they made most instructions contradict each other and got rid of the forward run arrows. The other one I use (with wingers that I used for the first 3 seasons) has 17 instructions but I downloaded that for FM16 from Sortitoutsi. I change the roles sometimes.

[Adamski]

Yeah I struggle a bit with the instructions etc. I'm playing a 4-3-3 and I've stole some team instructions from a downloaded tactic as like you I can't get them moulded into anything that makes sense.

[Giggles]

DS' mad 4-3-3 has 12 instructions. I've turned it into a 4-3-1-2 by dragging the middle striker back as an AM, so I'm not sure if it makes sense with the instructions but it seems to work ok when I use it (away to big teams).

[Adamski]

I'm just using 3 variations with mentalities (Contain, Counter, Control) changed depending on the opposition. Working well.

[Dark Soldier]

Being a game engine you can have conflicting roles/instructions etc. Some guy made a template for FM17 (I forget the link) with instructions that work, then build the side around it.

Hence my Bury side now dominating shit with three CFs.

[Danny]

I'm just using 3 variations with mentalities (Contain, Counter, Control) changed depending on the opposition. Working well.

I do something similar. I have two variants of a 4-5-1, one a little more expansive than the other that I use at home and against weak teams. The second is more defensive and is used away and where we are the weaker side at home.

My 3rd slot is a 4-1-1-2-2 (with a DM, CM, Two wingers and two front men) that we go to when the team we are playing is proper shit or we need a goal.

[Giggles]

Anyone notice how Pierre Hoberg turns out in their games? He's become an absolute beast for me and I was so close to getting rid when I first took over.

[P_3]

He's been brilliant for the last few FMs.

[Giggles]

I can't remember him from any others but even after bringing in Alena, Sapponara, and Keita, he's still my best midfielder.

[Mazuuurk]

At least he's going out in style. At 37 years, this is pretty awesome. Still 4 or 5 games to go so hope to push it past 50.

https://snag.gy/pGzfqA.jpg

[Manc]

http://i.imgur.com/VvqJaJs.jpg

31 games unbeaten and a loss to PSG signalled the end of our title dream. We threw Europe and the cups in traditional fashion, but alas champions league football was attained.

In the summer came Jeff, Giroud, Stambouli and Dabo. Ben Arfa departed.

Victory over Paris in some community shield affair and a 2-0 win over Lyon spells good for the year ahead.

[Mazuuurk]

Fucking Suarez and Fucking Barcelona ruining what would have been the perfect ending to Zlatans career :mad:

https://snag.gy/1IHXnv.jpg

[Smiffy]

I've completed the first season and To Madeira II didn't get a chance until January came around as I couldn't register him but he still ended up the top goalscorer as we won both domestic cups, the early season one and the Europa League knocking out Man United on pens in the semi's and beating Atletico fairly easily in the final. Sadly we lost the league by virtue of Porto having a better H2H record against us. :moop:

Where does the 16 year old Madeira II go? Does he stay in Portugal or does he get snapped up by a bigger club in another country? Technically he only needs to land the league title to have won everything the nation has to offer already but is that something to do now or when he enjoys his swansong in a 10-15 years time....? I'll post an update shortly and then hopefully the active members in this thread can dictate To Madeira II's career path.

[Mazuuurk]

Well, that's that. Season 2018/2019 over.

In the end, all I won was the league. Zlatan was outstanding the whole season, in 49 appearances he scored 48 goals and made 20 assists.

He's retiring now and I'll have Griezman take his spot in the central forward role. Griezman was a disappointment the first season, but has really improved during this one.

[Yevrah]

Norwich Preseason 2017/18

Transfer Ins/Outs

https://s28.postimg.org/41hb9o1vh/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/661oar3i1/)[/url]

Ended up spending only £16m in the end in an effort to keep the finances secure. Players that got away were Doumbia on a free (couldn't get a WP) and Moussa Dembele (Celtic only wanted £10m, which stank of value, but the greedy arse wanted £80k a week and I'm only prepared to go to £50k at the moment).

van Ginkel and Paterson were signed straight for the first team, with Puerto as back up. Wayne Wallace and Guy Bates are ageing pro's brought in to tutor the youngsters (strangely I can't assign the former to tutor anyone) and the rest are youth prospects so we now have something resembling a youth squad. Wages shot up a bit but the total bill is still under £800k p/w and with £22m in the bank and the MASSIVE tv money to come I'd hope to have a healthy balance to invest in the infrastructure again come the end of the season.

Here's the youth:



https://s27.postimg.org/d6pw7f4b7/Untitled.jpg (https://postimage.org/app.php)

https://s28.postimg.org/rygk8dra5/Untitled.jpg (https://postimage.org/app.php)

https://s27.postimg.org/qe1wdh0qb/Untitled.jpg (https://postimage.org/)

https://s23.postimg.org/navua5fxn/Untitled.jpg (https://postimage.org/)

https://s23.postimg.org/scyxm3djv/Untitled.jpg (https://postimage.org/)

https://s30.postimg.org/qh59839rl/Untitled.jpg (https://postimage.org/)

https://s29.postimg.org/6wkag86vb/Untitled.jpg (https://postimage.org/)

https://s30.postimg.org/mfbeazagh/Untitled.jpg (https://postimage.org/)

https://s29.postimg.org/6d3ztq5kn/Untitled.jpg (https://postimage.org/)



Not sure any of them will be world beaters, but should get some decent long term Premier League standard players from that lot. They're all on long contracts with an optional 3 years more as well. A couple of English additions is nice as well.

https://s23.postimg.org/ymbwv0yvf/Untitled.jpg (https://postimage.org/)[url=https://postimage.org/]

That'll be the line up when everyone's fit. The board want us to stay up, but reasonably safe/mid table would be nice.

[Foe]

"Michael, Michael likes" is going to
be a cult hero at Norwich.

[Jimmy Floyd]

If I had a Frenchman called 'Philippe Torres' turn up I would bin him before even looking at his stats.

[Manc]

Bless.

[Giggles]

Seattle have now bid 8 times for Dusan Tadic, had them all accepted, and can't sign him because they can't have another designated player. And then they just bid again.

[Kikó]

Smiffy, start your own thread for it. Better than having it hidden in here.

[Giggles]

Now they've inexplicably bid €3.7m (all the other bids were €750,000) and it's been cancelled as they can't afford the fee :cab:

His contract runs out in about 5 weeks too.

[Smiffy]

Smiffy, start your own thread for it. Better than having it hidden in here.

If it was a decent enough read I will but as it is I genuinely don't know. Sounded alright in my head and I suppose a new thread could spur DS to live up to his resolution of writing more....and Jimmy for that matter. The Boy Who was El Rey was it? Lost. :(

[Giggles]

Southampton 2020/2021.


Competitions:

Walked to the Premier League and should have won the CL too. Not shown is the win in the World Club Championship also, but it was only 2 games.

http://i.imgur.com/x1gd3GA.png


Transfers:

Berahino threw a massive strop and went on deadline day. I had thought I'd have got someone in but nobody will sell "until they find a replacement". Got Flotow in on loan in January from Bayern and he was an absolute beast. I don't think I'll be able to get him at any sort of a decent price permanently but I'd love another loan of a season while Colidio goes through his final season in Spain for the work permit.
Massively overpaid for the young CB from Leicester as a prospect but he might have some sort of a future. Kerkhofs slotted in lovely in a CB rotation and Teodorczyk chipped in well for his price. Suarez was an assist machine from the left wing or behind two strikers.

http://i.imgur.com/PFrAwAt.png


Squad Stats:

Definitely need something world class up front but dubious about splashing with Colidio coming in 2022. Hopefully Flotow joins for another year.
Cedric top man yet again.

http://i.imgur.com/KMNbGxK.png


Some Players:



The aforementioned Flotow and Kerkhofs.

http://i.imgur.com/yRndz4E.png

http://i.imgur.com/gY52hhy.png


Two of the youngsters. Riley looks almost ready and I think I might toy with seeing what I can get for Forster this summer as he's 33 now. Valery has done realy well when he's came in and looks like the replacement in waiting for Cedric. Had to give him a decent deal ahead of time as Arsenal, Tottenham, and West Ham are constantly sniffing. Man City have bid for Riley a few times too so I had to do likewise.

http://i.imgur.com/R5aGOPE.png

http://i.imgur.com/gasIveZ.png


And lastly the strikers I'll hopefully be using the season after next and beyond. Colidio is progressing nicely in Spain and hopefully I can sort Cresswell out a loan somewhere decent this season.

http://i.imgur.com/66QzqZW.png

http://i.imgur.com/9Aotn3d.png

[Jimmy Floyd]

Summer transfers with Dortmund:

http://i.imgur.com/Arf8mgS.png

I overpaid for Brandt but given the money in for the older and barely better Schürrle, I'm pretty happy with the move. We also have Pulisic now ready for plenty of first team action and Reus, Dembélé and even teenager Larsen in that position so it's a good stock. Leaves the XI like this (with Bender, Reus and Götze injured which is basically the norm):

http://i.imgur.com/Z9x018I.png

Passlack is an absolute beast and Van Dijk is one of the best defenders I can remember having in the game. We've been given almost the same CL group as last year with PSG and Besiktas (Anderlecht in for PSV), but have started better in it and in the league we're pissing on most teams but Bayern still up there. Leverkusen are fucked as they've been raided to bugger by us, Bayern and other European superclubs so it looks a proper two horse race this time.

[Giggles]

The bug has started early this season. Still August.


http://i.imgur.com/ZXCfofK.png

[Baz]

Being a game engine you can have conflicting roles/instructions etc. Some guy made a template for FM17 (I forget the link) with instructions that work, then build the side around it.

Hence my Bury side now dominating shit with three CFs.Sounds good for international teams. Find a link?

[Yevrah]

Norwich Season 2017/18

So our first season back in the Premier League and it was a good one. The league was hard work, but with a bit of form pulled together at the end we managed to finish 12th.

https://s30.postimg.org/qb4pb998h/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/jxfm804cd/)[/url]

There were some good results in there, but overall we concede far too many and were on the end of some serious tonkings:

https://s27.postimg.org/4miuw945v/Untitled.jpg (https://postimage.org/)

https://s28.postimg.org/isx6b0gkd/Untitled.jpg (https://postimage.org/app.php)

We managed to fuck the FA Cup immediately by getting knocked out by Brentford in the 3rd round, but the league cup was where the magic happened:

https://s23.postimg.org/c8n1iq1i3/Untitled.jpg (https://postimage.org/app.php)

Ok, so the run to the final was very kind, but the win over Arsenal was one of the most satisfying (and unexpected) I've ever had in FM. Jokelainen getting a hat-trick was just the icing on the cake.

Here's the first team squad prior to any summer business:

https://s24.postimg.org/u6ltdjoyt/Untitled.jpg (https://postimage.org/)[url=https://postimage.org/]

I'll need to keep the numbers at a similar level to cope with Europe, but time at the club is up for Ben Godfrey, Wes Hoolahan, Louis Thompson, Graham Dorrans, Nikolay Bodurov, and Alena will be going back to Barca too so signings will be needed.

In terms of the club itself, the board have agreed to expand the stadium to 30,000, which is only a 4k increase so I'm guessing that's the limit for the current ground. The Youth and Training facilities will be further upgraded by October 2018 too.

Loving this save.

[randomlegend]

http://i.imgur.com/lSgSLse.png?1

You what? :cab:

[Smiffy]

I don't know what's worse, the transfer or no bloody logos. :moop:

[Gray Fox]

Where on Earth are West Ham pulling £94m from for one player?

[Shindig]

That's a lot of pornography.

[Giggles]

Where on Earth are West Ham pulling £94m from for one player?

They're shit hot in my game, even reached a CL final. Not sure if they ever paid that much in it but they're always a name you see on those transfer summaries.

[Gray Fox]

Must be that new stadium impact.

[Jimmy Floyd]

In my current game they've won the Europa League first up and are only a draw with Juve away from making the subsequent Champions League knockouts.

My form second season is infuriating. We've played 15 games in the league and thrashed 10 teams out of sight, including three seven-goal hauls, but the other 5, all away, we've lost which leaves us 5 points behind Bayern and level with an Anthony Knockaert-inspired Cologne.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

http://i.imgur.com/IpKXlp2.png

This really pisses me off (as do all similar news items), firstly he's 5 behind the leader and as such I should be only notified when he's a game away from tying the record. Secondly, the person who has the record is still at the club and he misses less games in seasons than Campagna.

I've now been getting this news item for around about the last 40 games fuck off.

[Shindig]

Drop them both.

[Giggles]

I got Flotow on loan for another season. 7 games in and he's got 13 goals. If I can possibly get him signed permanently in January, Colidio can fuck off with his work permit.

[Mazuuurk]

Time for a more comprehensive Season Report: 2018/2019.

These were the transfers done during the season:

https://snag.gy/rEa3TO.jpg


Now, Ruben Neves was what I was hunting for all summer (any decent alround midfielder), but Jonatan Tah was really the main signing, as he really did strenghten the defence quite a bit. Signed him on a whim but didn't regret it at all. I think it's probably good to have a DC with high pace when you have such a high defensive line as I do.

The two kids will be great:

Dionisi:
Now this kid won't fucking get a work permit, so while I was ready to start grooming him for Zlatans replacing already, I guess he'll have to go on loan for another season again.
https://snag.gy/Frq84K.jpg

Gacesa:
Also kind of didn't need this guy, as I was grooming Borthwick-Jackson as backup for Shaw, but he looked too good, and Borthwick never seemed to develop much. This guy will be a beast (but he gets sent off a lot).
https://snag.gy/63ZVkC.jpg


As for the different competitions:

League
Walked it. Was 15 points clear with about 5-7 rounds to go. By that time, of course, I started playing like shit when the league was already won, so I didn't finish in style and ended on "only" 89 points in the end. In other news City are kind of falling apart, and Spurs are always the main threat to me, it seems.

https://snag.gy/vkNFHj.jpg

As for the performers, it's all about Ibra, as it should:

https://snag.gy/yFGO4u.jpg


I will miss Zlatan so much, maybe so much that I won't even bother being United coach for that much longer. Though, I've become fairly attached to the rest of the squad anyway, so we'll see. Here he is in all his glory, a few weeks before his retirement and at age 37, still a beast:

https://snag.gy/Wm3nax.jpg


Champions League
Was a bit of a shitter, as I lost the final to Barcelona who played one of those games where Messi and Suarez kind of do their thing and you get a bit fucked off they even exist. Still decent I suppose to reach the final two years in a row, and at least Zlatan got to win it once.



Finally, something is up with my Finances. I'm 800k below my wage budget, but I'm bleeding money. Every season I'm just down to about 0 balance by the time the TV money comes in, and thats with reaching two CL finals in a row and the top price money from PL as well... I don't know what it is, because I "only" spent 108 Million of my 170 Million transfer budget, and got about 60 million in from transfers as well.

[Baz]

I'm thinking of starting with United. Looks fun. Would probably sign Franck Kessie as DM and the rest of the squad would fit with the 4-1-2-3 strikerless tactic I made for Liverpool. Zlatan might be wasted as SS though.

Did Fenerbahce pay Rooney's wage?

[Dark Soldier]

United have huge debt, wage bill and such. So they just shite out money each month, but the sponsorship, tv money and competition winnings boost them right up at the start of pre-season.

[Mazuuurk]

I'm thinking of starting with United. Looks fun. Would probably sign Franck Kessie as DM and the rest of the squad would fit with the 4-1-2-3 strikerless tactic I made for Liverpool. Zlatan might be wasted as SS though.

Did Fenerbahce pay Rooney's wage?

It's funny, that. I kept offering him out and getting shite offers of 10% of his wage (which seemed natural enough).

Eventually I'd had it and set 100% as a hard requirement when I offered, and got tons of offers all of a sudden with 100% (was even struggling to get the 10% offers in before, he hadn't played in a season almost and, well, he's shite). So, yeah, they did. But it seemed almost like a bit of a bug or something.

[Smiffy]

Sporting Clube de Braga - Season 2016/2017

Transfers In

Luka Jovic - Benfica (Loan).

Transfers Out.

Mauro - Internacional - £500K (Rising to £750K)
Hassan - Sporting - £12.75M (Rising to £19.25M)
Pedro Santos - Valencia - £6.25M (Rising to £10M)

Season Summary

Life at Braga couldn't have got off to a better start as our season began with a 5-2 success over Benfica in the curtain raiser. It was the first time the Arsenalista's had claimed the Supertaca. The goals showed no signs of slowing down either as we won our opening four league fixtures scoring eleven and conceding just once. The pair of 3-0 victories over Rio Ave and Feirense very pleasing on the eye as we showed a willingness to get forward and were tighter than a virgins fanny at the back. A small break from domestic action followed as we won our opening Europa League match against Ukrainian outfit Zorya Lugansk 4-0. Another clean sheet. Another goal glut and To Madeira, the clubs new manager proving every bit as magical on the touchline as he was on the pitch.

The run was soon to be ended however as the very next match against Moreirense saw the side fire blanks but so did the home side thus it was settled at a point a piece with FC Porto laying in wait. We knew if we were to have much hope of reaching the Champions League spots then the games against the supposed 'Big Three' would have to yield some points and that's exactly what we achieved against the Dragoes. Nuno Santo's side scored from the spot right at the death though which mean that point was another solitary one. Porto remained top but we were sitting comfortly in 3rd and looked good for it too, a fact that was confirmed six days later as we slapped Belgium side Standard Liege 7-1 at the Stade Maurice Defrasne. Stojiljkovic taking his tally to seven for the season whilst on loan striker Luka Jovic claimed his second treble of the season.

The month of October would see To Madeira II make his debut for the club in a 3-0 win over Torcatense in the Taca de Portugal Cup and the Braga faithful were loving every second of it as despite the 3-1 defeat to Feyenoord in the Europa, three more successive league wins were notched up. Nine points out of nine and FC Porto's unlikely slip up to Pacos Ferreira meant we jumped to the top of the table.

http://s30.postimg.org/p8fl51w5d/screenshot_693.png

http://s30.postimg.org/oy82lphj5/screenshot_694.png

Statistically the Brazilian wingbacks Marcelo Goiano and Djavan were the form players in the team with centre back Andre Pinto not far behind but when chances presented themselves, Nikola, Luka and Hassan were usually on hand to convert them.

http://s30.postimg.org/qtuuwv6dd/screenshot_695.png

http://s30.postimg.org/3to7kj8jl/screenshot_696.png

As we entered November we were wary of the excessive amount of games in such a short amount of time. We started with a 2-0 victory at home to Feyenoord to strengthen our grip on Group F following it up with another three points in the Liga NOS. Pacos Ferreira succumbing to a 3-2 defeat but really it was a game of two halves as we were 3-0 to the good by time the whistle blew for half time. Rui Fonte starting a run of four goals in four games to prove we had plenty of depth in the attacking department.

A two week break beckoned before we faced a challenging four games in ten days. To Madeira II struck on his second first team appearance as we romped past Feirense in the Taca de Portugal Cup, sadly the talented youngster was still two months away from being registered for league duty. We packed our bags after this and headed to Ukraine where a 3-0 win over Zorya confirmed our position as group winners. It wasn't without a price however as the long journey clearly hampered us a few days later as we laboured to a 1-1 draw with 5th placed Estoril.

http://s30.postimg.org/bzplry0ox/screenshot_697.png

Despite our concerns at the beginning of the month though, our 3-0 victory against Belenenses in the Taca da Liga group meant we'd won five of the six games and headed into December on course for an unprecedented campaign. Still in with a shout in the domestic cups, a rather generous fixture list for the festive season as we looked to increase our lead at the top and European football that lasts beyond 2016. Things were looking up for Braga but sat on top of the pile, we were looking down. We needed space between the big boys and the twelve month of the year was the perfect time to do it.

Tondela arrived. Hassan grabbed three goals and three more points.
Standard arrived. Rui Fonte grabbed three goals and three more points.
Nacional da Madeira arrived. Nikola Stojiljkovic grabbed thr...nah, just two but another three points.
A 4-2 win against Guimaraes ensured we claimed nine out of nine in the league, Hassan's sole effort against Cova da Piedade prolonging our cup runs before repeating the trick two weeks later by grabbing four in a 7-0 win against Olhanense. It was our biggest domestic win and it could have been double figures but with the January window soon to be open and Hassan being wanted by Benfica, it was time.....it was time to register To Madeira II.

[phonics]

I started a Dortmund game, it was going fucking amazingly, I was smashing everyone by 4 goals to nil with a tactic that I'd made. Then my power cut out, and I'd turned off auto-saving :(

[Giggles]

I've accidentally figured out that when mine hangs, if I leave it for around 20-30 minutes it comes right again.

Definitely must be the laptop not being able to handle the game properly. What are the recommended specs?

[Jimmy Floyd]

After 17 games, my Dortmund league record in season 2 is (at home) P8 W8, GD+35. Away from home it's P9 W3 L6, GD -5. It's absolutely ridiculous the discrepancy.

Mind you, the entire league is fairly broken in the same way, there are three clubs with 100% home records, and yet the most wins anyone has away from home is four. There are very few draws, what the game is doing is basically if you have a good striker(s) he will score three or four in the first half hour, and that's you.

[Adamski]

I've accidentally figured out that when mine hangs, if I leave it for around 20-30 minutes it comes right again.

Definitely must be the laptop not being able to handle the game properly. What are the recommended specs?

I think Kiko posted them in the laptop thread.

[Adamski]

After 17 games, my Dortmund league record in season 2 is (at home) P8 W8, GD+35. Away from home it's P9 W3 L6, GD -5. It's absolutely ridiculous the discrepancy.

Mind you, the entire league is fairly broken in the same way, there are three clubs with 100% home records, and yet the most wins anyone has away from home is four. There are very few draws, what the game is doing is basically if you have a good striker(s) he will score three or four in the first half hour, and that's you.

Sounds like you could maybe look at tweaking your mentality to counter or defensive away from home to tighten up?

[Giggles]

I think Kiko posted them in the laptop thread.

I don't see them. I've an A10 with 8GB RAM though so presumably it's the graphics card as it has that integrated Radeon shite.
You'd think the graphics wouldn't matter much when you don't use the match engine though.

[Giggles]

Would seem to be my discrepancy indeed.

http://fm-space.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/fm2017systemrequirements.png


EDIT: Though according to this the one in the laptop is better than the Radeon one mentioned above.

http://www.game-debate.com/gpu/index.php?gid=64&gid2=1155&compare=AMD%20Radeon%209800%20Pro-vs-AMD%20Radeon%20HD%207620G

[Smiffy]

Have you got that NVidia icon in the corner of your screen, Giggles? I'll check when able but I messed around with settings in there when mine was hanging and ever since I've not had too many issues. Biggest gripe for me seems to be the new updates, the last two have messed up saves or in case of the last one, made them disappear completely.

[Bam]

What is it with the valuations of players, you find a decent 18 year old that looks like he might be alright, not a world beater but alright with a £600k value at some poxy lower league Danish side. You lodge a bid of £1m and they counter the offer at £44m, madness.

It's been like this for a few years, why don't SI sort that out? :moody:

[Giggles]

What is it with the valuations of players, you find a decent 18 year old that looks like he might be alright, not a world beater but alright with a £600k value at some poxy lower league Danish side. You lodge a bid of £1m and they counter the offer at £44m, madness.

It's been like this for a few years, why don't SI sort that out? :moody:

I seen a decent looking 18 year old prospect the other day. Think he was a Palermo and valued at €400k, when I asked to suggest terms they wanted €84m :D

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

It's just their way of saying 'we don't want to sell unless you make a mental offer'.

[Smiffy]

That's how we ended up with Downing and co. :moop:

[Jimmy Floyd]

Currently on 5 Jan and I have a Bayern Munich related 'Wnt' over seven of my first team squad. The cunts have come for Dembele first and he's been request-listed as a result. Strange that a black man would want to tool around in a Nazi armband but there we are.

Fucking come at me, Karl-Heinz.

[Giggles]

I just accidentally did this (only copped as I hit the instant result button). He wasn't even the worst rated player :cool:


http://i.imgur.com/puR7IIC.png

[Mazuuurk]

It's fucking impossible for me to find a good Right-back right now, unless I want to pay about 80 million for Fabinho from Monaco, which I don't.

[Baz]

I didn't realise you can forget scouting knowledge.

I was Liberia u20 manager, then got the proper Ivory Coast job but got sacked. Went to Latvia and then jumped ship to New Zealand. I am fluent in French and Latvian, and my scouting knowledge of Latvia is maxed (as is england) but I know nothing about Ivory Coast or Liberia anymore.

I suppose it makes sense but it's annoying because I was purposely moving about to get my knowledge of lots of places high. :(

[Dark Soldier]

It's fucking impossible for me to find a good Right-back right now, unless I want to pay about 80 million for Fabinho from Monaco, which I don't.

Yeah decent RB regens are scarce. I finally have a Finnish lad at Bury in 2022. Ton of decent LB regens though.

[Smiffy]

Is there a way to get that Brexit thing of yours to add the Conference, DS? It only seems to load up to League Two.

[Dark Soldier]

Is there a way to get that Brexit thing of yours to add the Conference, DS? It only seems to load up to League Two.

Dunno mate, I never manage below League Two. Could try running the rules in editor test mode.

[Dark Soldier]

Actually you can select down to Vanarama with my file so dunno mate:

https://i.gyazo.com/cbdabaa72cde81cc55dd4978bcbc649a.png

[Smiffy]

:cab: Is that a different one to the one you posted on sigames? I don't even see the drop down on mine.

[Dark Soldier]

Yeah I posted the new one in here ages back, link will be dead now though :D

Here it is: http://www.filedropper.com/brex974304dc-1f9e-4510-bb55-bb544657b097

[Dark Soldier]

And here's a no work permit plus all nations at 200 youth rating file:

http://www.filedropper.com/nwpyr96a0cfe0-2ce5-4e9e-9c49-a147c5a80b29

[Smiffy]

:moop: Appreciated.

I'm about to start a save with Liverpool but I wanted the Conference North & South loaded in case it turns into a long save. I really need to settle on one.

[Jimmy Floyd]

All my strikers got injured at the same time around the end of January, so in pure desperation I had to get this wanker in on loan:

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/01/10/article-2537375-1A8B32CD00000578-925_634x423.jpg

Four games in and he's netted six times, including the winner at Leipzig and a hat-trick against Hamburg. It's shaping up to be one of the all time great loan spells.

[Raoul Duke]

Now to do the next classic FM trick: sign the loan player after a great short spell, who'll then turn out to be bang average for the next couple of seasons before being sold to Galatasaray for half his value. It's a rights of passage.

[Giggles]

Is that Bony?

[Manc]

Ebony*.

[phonics]

Played one half of the season so far with Dortmund. 15 wins and 2 losses in the league and a 100% record in the CL.

Aubameyang is so good it should be illegal.

[Mazuuurk]

:moop: Appreciated.

I'm about to start a save with Liverpool but I wanted the Conference North & South loaded in case it turns into a long save. I really need to settle on one.

Tim, how many FM saves do you start on a weekly basis?

[Jimmy Floyd]

If you play it too much you'll never settle on a save as you rattle through the possibilities too quickly. A wee sesh after work is the perfect amount for me.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Played one half of the season so far with Dortmund. 15 wins and 2 losses in the league and a 100% record in the CL.

Aubameyang is so good it should be illegal.

I have him as a lone poacher and he basically just scores when he wants.

I can't hit those heights with the results though, too many shitters away from home. I've tried being more conservative but that just makes it worse if anything. This edition is about banging goals in, not defending.

[Mazuuurk]

Agreed. I go through about 5-6 matches a day, maybe a bit more on weekends if I have time. A season takes maybe 2-3 weeks.

That seems a good pace for me to follow these days.

[phonics]

I have him as a lone poacher and he basically just scores when he wants.

I can't hit those heights with the results though, too many shitters away from home. I've tried being more conservative but that just makes it worse if anything. This edition is about banging goals in, not defending.

Me too, it almost feels like cheating when I don't start him and he invariably comes on to score 2 in 10 minutes.

I play 4-2-3-1 with Rode and Weigl in the middle behind Gotze,Pulisic,Dembele and Reus when he's not dead for those 2-3 weeks at a time (out injured for 6 months, comes back, 2 goals and 2 assists in 4 games and an average of 7.8, injured for 6 weeks)

[Jimmy Floyd]

I play 4-2-3-1 as well with wingers - Götze, on the rare occasions when he's fit, is an utter beast at AMC and Pulisic is immense as well. The main difference I have is Bender instead of Rode and being in the middle of season 2 I've just had to sell Dembele to Bayern (replaced by Isco :drool:), and I also have Brandt from Leverkusen.

I dunno, we just switch off in too many away games. The two midfielders get swamped too and pick up more yellows than you can believe.

Oh and Guerreiro/Passlack as full backs are immense.

[Mazuuurk]

When you use a Poacher, how to you play apart from that? I keep thinking playing with a Poacher is not something you can do when playing possession football the way I'm doing, but maybe it can be done?

I've had this idea to at some point play with three AMC's as Advanced Playmakers and just one Poacher with good "off the ball" stats and that should mean shitloads of goals - but I never have the right squads for that it seems.

[Giggles]

I play 4-2-3-1 as well with wingers - Götze, on the rare occasions when he's fit, is an utter beast at AMC and Pulisic is immense as well. The main difference I have is Bender instead of Rode and being in the middle of season 2 I've just had to sell Dembele to Bayern (replaced by Isco :drool:), and I also have Brandt from Leverkusen.

I dunno, we just switch off in too many away games. The two midfielders get swamped too and pick up more yellows than you can believe.

Oh and Guerreiro/Passlack as full backs are immense.

Was just checking my yellows there too. Whatever it is about my tactic, my full backs are always two of my most important players but also get booked like demons. 5 seasons and Cedric has 82 yellows and Jonny has 74.

[Mazuuurk]

Was just checking my yellows there too. Whatever it is about my tactic, my full backs are always two of my most important players but also get booked like demons. 5 seasons and Cedric has 82 yellows and Jonny has 74.

You don't play with any wingers / wide midfielders, right? At least not in the triple-AMC tactic on last page.

Naturally, like with my 4-3-3, that means Fullbacks become quite important, specially if you play a possession-kind of game, as they are the only source for crosses really, and usually a lot of assists.

Now, as they also move so far forward the pitch, the'll have a lot of tracking back to do and will both become tired and have to chase wingers a lot = many bad tackled.


That's the logical reasoning anyway - but maybe the game is just broken.

[Giggles]

I've gone back to the downloaded winger one that served me well in FM16 and early on in this one. Concede far less with it but it's rife for suspensions.

http://i.imgur.com/hf7qDtg.png

[Jimmy Floyd]

When you use a Poacher, how to you play apart from that? I keep thinking playing with a Poacher is not something you can do when playing possession football the way I'm doing, but maybe it can be done?

I've had this idea to at some point play with three AMC's as Advanced Playmakers and just one Poacher with good "off the ball" stats and that should mean shitloads of goals - but I never have the right squads for that it seems.

P
W(S) - AM(A) - W(S)
BWM(S) - DLP(D)
FB(A) - DCB(D) - BPD(D) - FB(A)

Those are the roles I have, it results in loads of bodies forward and the poacher fulfils his end of the bargain but to be honest I think it helps that it's Oba who is lightning quick and has decent technical stats as well. I'm not sure it could be done with some lump. Oba does fuck all apart from score really.

The ones who slightly disappoint are the wide men, Dembele was great but the others are quite hot and cold out there. I've considered inside forwards but I bloody hate inside forwards.

[phonics]

Oh and Guerreiro/Passlack as full backs are immense.

I spent 5 million on some shitty Barcelona U20 right back before realising that there was a Dortmund II as well as the U19s when I went looking for Pulisic and noticing I had a 10 million rated 18 year old German in the ranks.

The fans slaughtered me for signing him as well. Thought 'I'll show them' and he hasn't played a game.

edit: Although this is one of the things that makes me worried about the Dortmund game being 'fun'. All they're players are so good I feel like I've contributed nothing. I nearly spunked 90 million quid on Thibaut Courtois so I could have an impact.

[Mazuuurk]

P
W(S) - AM(A) - W(S)
BWM(S) - DLP(D)
FB(A) - DCB(D) - BPD(D) - FB(A)

Those are the roles I have, it results in loads of bodies forward and the poacher fulfils his end of the bargain but to be honest I think it helps that it's Oba who is lightning quick and has decent technical stats as well. I'm not sure it could be done with some lump. Oba does fuck all apart from score really.

The ones who slightly disappoint are the wide men, Dembele was great but the others are quite hot and cold out there. I've considered inside forwards but I bloody hate inside forwards.

I always thought Inside forwards made much more sense when you play with Attacking fullbacks, but perhaps no AMC. But given how this version seems to reward clogging up the middle with people, it may work out pretty well anyway, and give your fullbacks a little more space to operate on.

Why do you hate Inside Forwards? I love them.

Edit: or at least the idea of them. They never seem to work out the way I want them to, they never cut inside enough (unless you play Neymar there...).

[Jimmy Floyd]

I spent 5 million on some shitty Barcelona U20 right back before realising that there was a Dortmund II as well as the U19s when I went looking for Pulisic and noticing I had a 10 million rated 18 year old German in the ranks.

The fans slaughtered me for signing him as well. Thought 'I'll show them' and he hasn't played a game.

edit: Although this is one of the things that makes me worried about the Dortmund game being 'fun'. All they're players are so good I feel like I've contributed nothing. I nearly spunked 90 million quid on Thibaut Courtois so I could have an impact.

You wait for season 2 when the Gestapo come for your top players. The Bundesliga itself has nothing in it though, I'll say that.

[Mazuuurk]

Wrapped up the Transfer window yesterday:

https://snag.gy/asbxVP.jpg

Getting 34 million for Mkitharian at 30 seemed like great business to me. I kinda regretted selling Darmian as he's natural at both RB and LB and that's very handy to have.

The kid I got in instead, Villalva, is shit hot - but wouldn't get a Work Permit so I had to loan him out to Hoffenheim. Here he is:

https://snag.gy/Cd5RUQ.jpg

Now, since that meant I was still short an RB, I signed this kid. He's clearly lacking in the technical department, too much I thought at first, but some other teams wanted him and I though fuck you and got him, then. Not gonna get much better for 14M anyway.

https://snag.gy/BMyoU5.jpg


Then there was the Japaneese keeper, who will be a star:

https://snag.gy/TmnU5R.jpg


And I'd previously signed this midfielder, but forgotten about it. He doesn't look as good now as he did then, almost a year ago (and not much has changed). And besides back then I had more Advanced Playmaker types in midfield, but now I go more for the Roaming Playmakers / Allround type midfielders. So he went straight out on loan to Zenit.

https://snag.gy/zt47pc.jpg

[Mazuuurk]

This fucks me off no end:

- Player nags for years about new contract
-- I Finally think they have earned one, so I tell them: OK, I'll offer you one
--- Player is happy
---- Player's wolf agent want a 260k/week salary and ridiculous bonuses
----- I say fuck NO
------ Players goes on saying "Hope Maz will keep his promise and offer a new contract"


Since when did "offer" start meaning "Give exactly what my vulture agent asks for"

!?!?!

[Yevrah]

The player interaction stuff really is dreadful.

[phonics]

"If I don't get any football soon, I'm going to leave"
"Good mate, you're shit. Get on the transfer list"
"Didn't mean it boss I just want a chance"

then 6 months later

"Player is perplexed at his lack of first team football"

[Jimmy Floyd]

The issue I have is things like my backup goalkeeper (who has 'backup' in his contract) moaning about not playing. Clue's in the name, geezer.

The actual conversation screens are packed with logic fails and non-sequiturs too.

[Mazuuurk]

It's so broken as well. It could really add something to the game, same as Press conferences (Edit: ) could (not does, duh...) , but they need to make it a bit more dynamic than "there's these 8 reply options in every single dialogue you have and these 2 of them are the only viable ones, which leads to A) situation resolved (for about 3 months at most) or B) player gets pissed (for about 6 months at least or if their contract expires before).


They need to send some Work Experience guys to some clubs to figure out how this all works. There's no way that a player just walzes into his managers office and asks for a new contract EVERY TIME they have scored a hattrick or made a decent tackle. There's NO WAY that even the scummiest of scummy agents are so unrealistic as to just push their players on and on without any regard for, for instance, if they get to play or not.

You cannot punish a player for being an asshole either without causing an uproar. Not even in the modern world of faffy football, as it were, is there anyway that the players are the same level of precious little snowflake as these fuckers in FM.


What I've noticed is that now it actually works to tell players to sack their agents. But they always replace them with a similar one straight away, and that similar one will push them for new deals in another 3 months anyway - so it changes nothing and the whole "what's good for you" dialogue is just a sham.

[randomlegend]

My stash of regens:

http://i.imgur.com/bxtWlJz.png18 and only cost me £3m a year ago. Couldn't get a work permit unfortunately so he's out on loan. I reckon he looks the best of the bunch, but I din't know the stats what make the players good like some of you.


http://i.imgur.com/QHWC62m.pngHoping he'll provide the more defensive side to a midfield partnership with Katic for the next 15 years.


http://i.imgur.com/3vihMiq.pngNo nonsense eastern-european defender, maybe he'll prove to be a bit too uncultured in the long run but we'll see. Dem physicals :drool:


http://i.imgur.com/kW9BhN8.pngHas some worryingly low stats in places but took the punt due to his high potential, can probably ship him off for a billionty pounds in a few years even if he proves naff.


http://i.imgur.com/54lz59m.pngProper right-footed, right-sided bomb it down the line and whip a cross in winger. Good stuff.


http://i.imgur.com/jFBNVth.pngLooks like a cunt but hoping he's gonna fucking bang the goals in.


http://i.imgur.com/LiEz0gY.pngDunno about this one, but he had good scout reports so maybe his wonky stats will come good.

[Jimmy Floyd]

That Freeman will do Pele numbers. Looks quite poachy poachy.

[Mazuuurk]

I never want players who have Righ/Left only for foot preference, unless they are Fullbacks in which case they only need one foot anyway (or wingers, but I never ever play with wingers almost).

[Mazuuurk]

This guy finally got a work permit. I had gambled and kept him in the squad past the transfer deadline, because he had about 2 more weeks until I could re-apply for a Work Permit (didn't plan that out very well when applying the previous time).

Anyway, I'm training him as a "Complete forward" (don't use AMC's) and I reckon he'll be great. Either-footed players always seem to overperform in FM as well. Scored after 11 minutes on his debut :drool:

https://snag.gy/URW3vy.jpg

[Smiffy]

Tim, how many FM saves do you start on a weekly basis?

Not as many as you would imagine tbh. I've loaded a few up but just not 'felt' it so moved on but I think the problem is I'm smashing through the seasons too quickly.

I lost a few on the update as I still haven't figured out how to get them to show in the 'Load Game' tab but I would say the past two weeks has been wasted.

I'm just going to do one with Liverpool and hope for global domination. I've never really had a long term save with them on FM, I can't recall the last version.

[Smiffy]

If you play it too much you'll never settle on a save as you rattle through the possibilities too quickly. A wee sesh after work is the perfect amount for me.

You're right. It's worth noting that I just spent nearly two months waiting for a DBS to clear so I've had nothing but free time.

[Smiffy]

I never want players who have Righ/Left only for foot preference, unless they are Fullbacks in which case they only need one foot anyway (or wingers, but I never ever play with wingers almost).

I never really check what their preference is regardless of position. I don't feel it makes a great deal of difference.

[Panda Bear]

Every version rewards clogging up the middle once you figure out how to get a forward or AMC to provide support down the line for a fullback, which is usually throwing on roam and move into the channels for the former and direct passes for the latter.

[Yevrah]

Norwich Season 18/19 Update

Transfers

https://s29.postimg.org/he93oczhj/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/f9oqn9xur/)[/url]

Still trying to get the club up to Premier League standard so signings remain thin on the ground. Managed to keep the wage budget under £900k and no one is on more than £50k, but I'm not sure how much longer that will last.


https://s23.postimg.org/48pgo8cnf/Untitled.jpg (https://postimage.org/app.php)

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The newgen pictures really are a disgrace.



As I type we're up to March 1st 2019, with only the business end of the season to go.

The league has been a mixed bag (or mostly shit) again. We're still conceding far too many and can't seem to get any consistency together, but we'll then get a cracking result here and there. Quite frustrating.

https://s27.postimg.org/saujb95qr/Untitled.jpg (https://postimage.org/)

After last season's League Cup win we went straight out at the third round stage, losing 3-2 away at Championship Fulham. On the plus side we're still in both the FA Cup and Europa League.

https://s28.postimg.org/uuqhqebf1/Untitled.jpg (https://postimage.org/)image hosting (https://postimage.org/)

https://s24.postimg.org/kmmq5hlgl/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/ss4s3n9pd/)free upload image (https://postimage.org/)

The second leg over Porto was so good.

In other news the training facilities are up to 'Superb' and the youth facilities 'Excellent', with Youth Recruitment 'Established' (does it get any better than that?). The capacity is also up to 33,000 and we have £63m in the bank, our tax bill is going to be fucking huge. :eyemouth:

Oh and I don't know if you remember Mike Owens, he came through Norwich's youth system in our first season and now looks like this:


https://s23.postimg.org/60qzar9tn/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/ogbg85nxz/)[url=https://postimage.org/app.php]

:drool:

[Raoul Duke]

He has definitely strangled at least four hookers though

[Giggles]

He has definitely strangled at least four hookers though

Not before he killed the group of scientists that made him though.

[Jimmy Floyd]

He's a bit of a looker by newgen standards on this game.

[Baz]

19 finishing
17 pace

:eek:

Have you been giving him individual training and/or tutoring?

£200 a week. :D

[Yevrah]

I've got him on Poacher training, with additional focus on 'Off the ball'.

The £200 is brilliant and I've got him on that until 2023 if I want. :D

[Mazuuurk]

I never really check what their preference is regardless of position. I don't feel it makes a great deal of difference.

Really not at all? For instance if you have a Left-footer AMR, you don't wanna play him as a Winger do you? Or the same with a Fullback, they need the right foot for their position really.

[Panda Bear]

I never really check what their preference is regardless of position. I don't feel it makes a great deal of difference. I'm the opposite. Foot preference affects (or at least seems to) whether they drive wide or cut inside, how long they have to dwell on the ball to do something with it, and the accuracy of their passes, crosses and shots.

I'm least concerned about it with centrebacks and goalies. I like my fullbacks to be two-footed because they're a lot better at recycling possession since they're not always defaulting to crosses in the final third. It's always a fullback or a deep midfielder who picks up a headed clearance it seems.

Improving the weaker foot is the number one PPM that I train for that reason.

[Yevrah]

What an end to the season:

https://s28.postimg.org/n6vi5cwxp/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/3p0upezzt/)how to take a screenshot on a pc (https://postimage.org/app.php)

:sick:

15th in the league. Might need to spend some proper money finally in the summer.

[Giggles]

This one's been ongoing for a while, even worse than my old Mazzari spats, but I've finally broken him :drool:

http://i.imgur.com/YiSdp9H.png

[Pen]

As I have mentioned in this thread before I'm currently enjoying a fantastic time managing Bolton.

Quick history:
2016/2017 League 1 champions and broke the 100 point barrier, did nothing in the cups
2017/2018 Championship champions and broke the 100 point barrier again, did nothing in the cups
2018/2019 Midtable mediocracy, but I won the League cup
2019/2020 More of the same in the league with a slight improvement and winners of the Europa League
2020/2021 The first trophy-less season, but finished third which was a great result compared to the previous seasons
2021/2022 Premier league and Champions league double and went out in the semi final of the FA-cip.
2022/2023 League Champions and broke the 100 point barrier in the Premier league and defended the Champions league title successfully. Lost in the FA-cup final.

In the past few seasons I have become the best club in the league and I don't think that's going to change anytime soon. My transfer model shits on the AI's as always and my oldest player at the moment is Callum Chambers who's 28 (got him on the cheap (£6,5m) a few seasons back and his value at the moment is £33m. He will probably go after this season though as I have great youth defenders to take over. I only have 11 players in my squad who have been here form the start and they are Jääskeläinen (gk), Chambers (rb), Galloway (cb), Ryan Sessegnon (lb), Aiden O'Neill (mc), Grillittsch (mc), Brekalo (aml), Matheus Pereira (amr), Embolo, Quitongo and Charlie Osborne (all strikers). The rest are newgens. Osborne and Jääskeläinen are my own youths as well. All of the above are pretty good as well (well Jääskeläinen is only there because f his nationality) if anyone's looking for decent players. Matheus Pereira has won the Premier league player of the year three times in a row now after his £4m move in January 2018. It took two of those awards to get him his first cap with Brazil :cab:

Within the spoiler are three screenshots that I thought were some good things to share from my save. My comeback in Turin against Juve was great. After Brekalo's red I was sure I was out, but after getting through from that I ended up hammering Bayern and then beating Arsenal on penalties (after hammering them for 120 mins). Obviously I had to put a screenshot up from the 100 feat in the Premier league. I was actually on course to an unbeaten season before securing the title and losing the next two games :moop: scored 100 goals too. Last but not least was a surprise from the summer that just passed. Apparently the teams voted to get rid of work permits (I had a pretty hard Brexit but was really enjoying it, but still voted yes as I thought it would even the playing field a bit as I have a few self imposed rules). Has that ever happened to anyone else?

https://s29.postimg.org/jjx5y9rrr/Brex.png (https://postimg.org/image/ey11px68j/)image hosting without registration (https://postimage.org/)

https://s28.postimg.org/7c02ua171/Juve.png (https://postimg.org/image/8ea9ctk09/)image hosting 10mb limit (https://postimage.org/)

https://s29.postimg.org/7yqh92hxz/League.png (https://postimg.org/image/8o99lfihf/)image sharing sites (https://postimage.org/)

[Jimmy Floyd]

How is Jussi still playing? He'd be 48.

[Smiffy]

Dare I mutter those famous last words?

http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01077/Houllier_12_682x40_1077932a.jpg

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I'm hoping we do it this season as I don't hold out too much hope of it happening in the next couple of years. Lucas Leiva and Dejan Loven both went to Guangzhou Evergrande in the January market for £33.5M although Dejan has another £7.5M to come in add ons so not a bad deal. The wage bill was something like £2.6M a week and I'll be aiming to get it down to £1M. I've kept mostly the first team thus far with the youngsters getting the odd start now and then but the long term aim is to bring them all through so the inevitable bids in the summer will be accepted providing they match our valuation otherwise I'll use them for tutoring purposes.

Mignolet decided to damage his achilles and has been out for the past 3/4 months whilst Firmino, who I rejected bids for in January ended up breaking his leg a few weeks later. Six months out. :moop:

Origi and Sturridge have grabbed 30 between them but the goals have been spread out. I've struggled to find a spot for Mane but he's still chipped in with 10 in 9 starts. Squeeky bum time.

It's bugging me that Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher won't entertain coming back to the club.

[Pen]

His son Will is my second choice gk. Jussi is still probably playing somewhere too.

@Jimmy

[Smiffy]

I've just had my intake. Perhaps losing Mignolet isn't that bad (I bet that statement doesn't exist on the internet up until now!)

http://s30.postimg.org/pfs2igytd/screenshot_716.png

[Yevrah]

Budgets set.

https://s27.postimg.org/4guuafpw3/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/hxrstb07j/)

Delia doesn't seem to think we need to build another stadium, so I can see the full shilling being spent this window.

[Jimmy Floyd]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bop4rr6sUQo

Sorry.

[Yevrah]

That was genuinely amazing.

[Yevrah]

So my avoiding relegation from the Premier League for two years running has propelled us into the top 30 of the rich list.

https://s24.postimg.org/tt4ilvcp1/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/wag9t4wld/)

Ahead of the Milan clubs no less.

[spokej]

http://i.imgur.com/fgwz3D1.png

Started a new game and this is the state of my goalkeeper situation a few days after transfer window shuts.

Gordon - 4-5 month knee tendonitis early in pre-season, fair enough, bought Bain to fill his spot. De Vries then gets knee tendonitis too, oh well Bain is still decent and I'll bring up Fasan as backup.

Window shuts and Bain picks up an ankle knock for a month and then Fasan fractures his back for two months?

Lustig also picked up a case of the knee tendonitis' and Gamboa broke his ankle on international duty. My two RBs.

Go fuck yourself. :happycry:

[phonics]

I got bored and spunked 70 million quid on Laporte and the Dembele from Celtic. I'm thinking of signing the other Moussa and just creating a team of Dembeles.

I've got 12 games left, 5 points clear with Bayern as the 3rd to last match of the season. Can't wait to finish work.

[Smiffy]

Liverpool - Season 2016/2017

It took from the beginning of the season until the 12th of December to lose our first league match as we ran rampant. Victories at Stamford Bridge (3-2) and Goodison (4-0) proving every bit as pleasing as the 3-0 annihilation of Man United at Anfield and the manner in which we did them over in the EFL Cup was fantastic.

http://s30.postimg.org/kas20tmpt/screenshot_721.png

Pogba's penalty should return to planet earth early 2018. As it was it proved pointless in the end as we were defeated in the final to Arsenal.

http://s30.postimg.org/l5elmuukh/screenshot_722.png

I mentioned earlier about us being 'ten games away from greatness'.

http://s30.postimg.org/9xvdnadkx/screenshot_714.png

But ultimately that proved to be as disappointing as the last time as we bottled it.

http://s30.postimg.org/jitzfd7wh/screenshot_723.png

Opening season hasn't been great as far as blooding in youngsters but that's the long term aim as opposed to flooding the first team with them. Trent Alexander-Arnold had a few starts owing to his versatility and he'll be one I look use more next season.

http://s30.postimg.org/3lv7infi9/screenshot_724.png

Kevin Stewart was another but he's not really going anywhere and is likely to be allowed to leave in the summer. Andre Wisdom returns from loan and he'll be thrown into the first team as I hope to be rid of Klavan. Jack Dunn, Allan, Taiwo Awoniyi and Luke Hunter, the keeper from youth intake are all earmarked for next season where it looks more and more likely that Phillippe Coutinho and Emre Can will be departing.

[wullie]

Alexander-Arnold is my first choice RB in the Premier League in 2022, Connor Randall second. Add Joe Gomez on the left and I didn't realise until now I've just been raiding Liverpool for fullbacks.

[Smiffy]

How has Trent turned out for you? Gomez I was thinking of a using as a centreback.

On a side note, well into my second season but check it out. Bloodshed all round. :nodd:

http://s30.postimg.org/ywjj8g0g1/screenshot_726.png

[Jimmy Floyd]

In my second season, England got five teams (Arsenal, holders Tottenham, United, City and West Ham) into the last 16. Spurs then smashed Real Madrid 5-1 in the first leg of said. Strong league.

[wullie]

How has Trent turned out for you? Gomez I was thinking of a using as a centreback.


I had him on loan as backup to Randall but once he signed on a permanent he took top spot. Possibly the most consistent and reliable defender I've got, not sure he's missed a game yet. Gomez is a jack of all trades, bought him mainly to bolster the middle but had a bit of a leftback crisis so he's done alright there

[Smiffy]

Liverpool - Season 2017/2018

http://s30.postimg.org/mdl0s9qv5/screenshot_727.png

£92M brought in and more expected next season as I hope to offload the big earners. Unfortunately that means Firmino and Clyne this upcoming season as both want well in excess of £200K a week. I've got the wage bill down to £2M which given my history is pretty good.

The clubs balance stands at £300M at the time of writing and only money spent has been the return of Steven Gerrard as the U18's manager and Sammy Lee as my assistant. :cool:

The best thing about the season is we ended the wait. Rather emphatically in the end as well.

http://s30.postimg.org/tpqgxt935/screenshot_728.png

Divock Origi and Daniel Sturridge once again proved too formidable upfront.

http://s30.postimg.org/6pjtlhb9d/screenshot_729.png

http://s30.postimg.org/hqjk48sw1/screenshot_730.png

Which is more than can be said for Taiwo who has found the step up a bit too much thus far.

http://s30.postimg.org/tgxhlmloh/screenshot_731.png

One man who hasn't is youth product Luke Hunter who continues to go from strength to strength.

https://s30.postimg.org/gs371yfk1/screenshot_732.png

He did concede six against Arsenal but I take the blame for overloading the entire first eleven with kids.

Not too many starts for Allan but I'm expecting Milner to leave in the summer so there is an opening for him.

http://s30.postimg.org/aaovw6ukh/screenshot_734.png

Jack Dunn and Lazar Markovic are probably going to join Milner given neither took their opportunies albeit limited ones.

Overall though I think it's fair to say Andre Wisdom and Marko Grujic were the main developers.

http://s30.postimg.org/yxkqtr4g1/screenshot_736.png

http://s30.postimg.org/fh01789c1/screenshot_737.png

Stats might say otherwise but on viewing alone they were.

Back to the scores.

Our FA Cup bid was ended by Chelsea in the cruelest of fashions but we had bigger fish to fry at that point anyway.

http://s30.postimg.org/v518e0oxt/screenshot_738.png

Losing to Tottenham in the semi's was a disappointmenet. You always want to get to the final when you get so close.

http://s30.postimg.org/6pt0cyq0x/screenshot_739.png

Thems the dangers when you're giving youth a chance.

The most gutting part of the season came in May.

http://s30.postimg.org/rt7iygmkh/screenshot_740.png

Considering we lost Can and Coutinho in the summer, I felt we did well to qualify for the knock out rounds. PSG proved easier than expected.

A date with Juventus followed but we were far too dominant in the final third.

http://s30.postimg.org/b7zwisvgh/screenshot_741.png

Man United were to come in the semi's. Neither club wanting to lose least of all Man United given they were witnessing an impending league title arrive at Anfield as well.

http://s30.postimg.org/jrjagk3sx/screenshot_742.png

Then shit got real. Real Madrid in the semi's, the winner facing Tottenham or Barcelona and the first leg couldn't have gone any worse.

http://s30.postimg.org/rbgywcmdd/screenshot_743.png

It would require a famous night at Anfiield to stand any chance of going to the final.


God dammit.

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Waiting In The Wings.

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Not exactly blessed in the youth department thus far. :moop:

[Giggles]

My main man is gone. :(

Not much you can do when they come knocking. He wanted €350,000 a week to stay.


http://i.imgur.com/SXEolsF.png

[Manc]

http://i.imgur.com/e5lsK7M.jpg

God bless Brendan.

[Giggles]

:drool: Don't know whether to recall yet though or wait til the summer.


http://i.imgur.com/HGmU4rO.png

[Jimmy Floyd]

My Dortmund side has completely collapsed. We've gone from smashing goals in for fun to being completely unable to create any sort of openings. Aubameyang hasn't scored for 14 games and with about nine to go, I think it's unlikely he'll score again this season. Just can't hit a barn door.

Haven't changed anything. Do tactics get cracked like the good old days?

[Panda Bear]

My Dortmund side has completely collapsed. We've gone from smashing goals in for fun to being completely unable to create any sort of openings. Aubameyang hasn't scored for 14 games and with about nine to go, I think it's unlikely he'll score again this season. Just can't hit a barn door.

Haven't changed anything. Do tactics get cracked like the good old days?Tactics get cracked.

You need your main tactic, your tactic that counters their counter tactic, and then your tactic that counters their counter-counter tactic. Naturally, your main tactic should function as the counter to their counter-counter-counter tactic.

I'm working with a 4-1-2-1-2, 4-3-2-1, and a 4-3-3, none of which have wingers. What I do have, though, are multi-faceted forwards and midfielders. You want to be able to have a high-paced, direct-passing tactic that can thrive with aerial play. You want a slow-paced, short-passing tactic that retains the ball. You want a mixed-paced, mixed-passing tactic that can do both. They just all need to be different formations.

Options like your defensive line, width, where to exploit and passing into space change on a match-to-match basis.

[Manc]

Change personal, Jim.

I've dropped Nzonzi, Mendy & Knockaert (big earners) this season. A few games on the bench seems to encourage.

[Jimmy Floyd]

That sounds very tedious, Panda.

I brought in Isco who is completely useless, Reus has also stopped performing. Maybe the little Spanish disease has poisoned the whole thing.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Now I'm being utterly thrashed by the likes of Ingolstadt. Five defeats in a row and no sign of the next point, let alone win. It's like the game's decided I just can't play that formation anymore, even though my players are completely suited to it and for the first 18 months of my reign pretty much made hay.

[Panda Bear]

That sounds very tedious, Panda.

I brought in Isco who is completely useless, Reus has also stopped performing. Maybe the little Spanish disease has poisoned the whole thing.Remember the time you spent making your once-effective tactic?

Make a new one, and keep your old one. You'll end up having to do it again at some point once the new one stops being the best tactic that has ever been created. Then you end up with three tactics that are all, hopefully, different enough from each other that you will no longer have to worry ever again.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Hmm. I'll probably have to ditch half my squad as well if the wide men have to go (and I've not seen anything to suggest that wide men are any use at all in this version) but I'll take your word for it. I suppose this is why you should have versatile players.

[Giggles]

Suarez has been one of my best as an attacking playmaker in a wide position, and Boufal before him. Never get massively good performances from a winger role though.

[John]

Panda is making the whole thing sound far, far more labour intensive than it's ever been in my experience. I've been using the same system with almost cosmetic tweaks on a game to game basis for seven seasons now with Beograd and it hasn't been 'cracked'. I don't have counter or counter counter tactics either.

[Smiffy]

Me either. In most cases I've just got one tactic that I rarely even change.

Wes Harker who arrived in my first ever intake has taken me by surprise, I didn't clock who he's been likened too up until now however.

http://s30.postimg.org/wrfgvrf0h/screenshot_748.png

http://s30.postimg.org/swc2t6vup/screenshot_749.png

Firmino leaves for Bayern Munich in the January window so I'm hoping he'll be ready to take his place.

[Dark Soldier]

Panda is making the whole thing sound far, far more labour intensive than it's ever been in my experience. I've been using the same system with almost cosmetic tweaks on a game to game basis for seven seasons now with Beograd and it hasn't been 'cracked'. I don't have counter or counter counter tactics either.

Yup, same tactic, all 3 slots for training purposes. I have slight variations I can just load with minimal loss of knowledge too.

[Smiffy]

Heading into January and we've just bid farewell to Firmino and Moreno whilst Clyne looks set to join them in another round of savings. Daniel Sturridge, James Milner and Karius all went out on loan with their new clubs paying 100% of their wage.

With that said, this should make John proud. :cool:


Current.

http://s30.postimg.org/j1gssljgh/screenshot_750.png

First season.

http://s30.postimg.org/ir9a994u9/screenshot_751.png

Henderson, Matip, Lallana and Sakho (nearly £500K a week) all have 18 months remaining so will be looking to offload them in the not so distant future which would leave Origi as the clubs highest earner and I hope by that point we have a few more able additions coming through plus more places free in the starting line up should aid their course.


http://s30.postimg.org/fblrdfwzl/screenshot_752.png


I'll take top four as I imagine it's going to get harder over the next few years.

http://s30.postimg.org/40j3p2q4h/screenshot_753.png

Despite the sales, I'm still boggled by the financial side of it.


http://s30.postimg.org/dav7sm0u9/screenshot_754.png

http://s30.postimg.org/46wss5z9d/screenshot_755.png

Hopefully we'll be completely debt free at some point before 2030.

[Panda Bear]

But making tactics is the best.

[Smiffy]

Liverpool - Season 2018/2019

Some big names left in each window which helped the wage budget decrease rapidly and January was as hectic as could be as I decided as many youngsters in the U23's should get six months experience or so.

http://s30.postimg.org/8279jhygx/screenshot_759.png
http://s30.postimg.org/6bo8i0gxt/screenshot_760.png

Season Summary

It was always going to be difficult retaining our Premier League title with so many first teamers leaving but it was disappointing for it to end up back at Old Trafford after they finished 3rd last season.

http://s30.postimg.org/hcjdn196p/screenshot_761.png

It would appear early doors that both Manchester clubs are going to be the top dogs in the next few years. Chelsea improved considerably but it wasn't much of a title challenge by any of the top five in truth.

Arsenal may look at it as a missed opportunity given what's going on at Anfield but overall I would say we deserved to finish where we did.


http://s30.postimg.org/imlsftsch/screenshot_762.png


I do wonder where we would have ended had it not been for a rough start to 2019 though.


https://s30.postimg.org/ms1afhfi9/screenshot_765.png
https://s30.postimg.org/7klav4nnl/screenshot_766.png


Away from the league though we appeared to go from strength to strength.

Not so much the EFL Cup.

http://s30.postimg.org/6anhg2tvl/screenshot_767.png

But revenge was dished our later in the season though to ruin Man United's hopes of a double.

http://s30.postimg.org/xza4nlgw1/screenshot_768.png

Given our starting line up contained Luke Hunter, Andre Wisdom, Jon Flanagan, Marko Grujic and the exciting Wes Harker it's fair to say this is as close as I've got to supposedly being unable to win anything with kids.

But it got better. Much better.

An easier group than last season and it showed as we qualified after just four games. That doesn't excuse the two defeats but I was a bit more generous in giving youngsters a chance as a result.

http://s30.postimg.org/60fywqf9d/screenshot_769.png

Our passage to the knock out round complete once more and Borussia Dortmund were hoping to end it.

http://s30.postimg.org/86ev4z83l/screenshot_770.png

They didn't. Our early onslaught in the first half was excellent and set up a quarter final game against arguably the weakest side left in the competition. Shakhtar.

Which made the first leg the biggest irritation of the season.

http://s30.postimg.org/6sn89o8u9/screenshot_771.png

It would require a special night at Anfield although I was suprised we didn't fill the ground. 2,000 odd short which has been rare this season. Something that wasn't rare though was the clubs ability to bounce back from the brink.

http://s30.postimg.org/7w7clmthd/screenshot_772.png

Easy in the end but a tie that should have been over before kick off. Real Madrid lay in wait and after last seasons 4-3 aggregate defeat to them I felt we owed them. The winner would face either Bayern Munich or Manchester City in the final. The winner would of course be us.

The testicular fortitude shown after not only going behind but being pegged back later in the match was telling.

http://s30.postimg.org/m56z3p801/screenshot_773.png

If Allan goes on to do nothing else, he did enough here.

Madrid were apparently ravaged by injuries by Ronaldo, Benzema, Rodriguez, Ramos, Kroos and Modric all featured though as I'm not buying into it.

Finally though it would be an all English affair in the final. Manchester City defeating the Germans to reach their first whilst we would be looking to win it for the first time since 2005. Well, you don't win anything with kids, do you?

http://s30.postimg.org/ddzy9foox/screenshot_774.png

http://s30.postimg.org/48rlfkla9/screenshot_775.png

:drool: Just look at that final ten minutes.

Way beyond expectations but perhaps I'm underrating those I have.

Moving on. The big two are still Luke Hunter who has successfully established himself as number one now in place of Mignolet who I hope to sell in the summer and 'the next michael owen' in Wes Harker. Forget the fact he's a target man, clearly mirrors that treacherous twat.

He is getting better though. :drool:

Season 2016/2017

http://s30.postimg.org/599glq8qp/screenshot_758.png

Season 2017/2018

http://s30.postimg.org/v3j9bi8qp/screenshot_757.png

Season 2018/2019

http://s30.postimg.org/5tohof1z5/screenshot_756.png

As for our number one. He'll be in the England squad soon I reckon.

http://s30.postimg.org/qegajm0n5/screenshot_776.png

:jayjay:

[Pen]

I'm the same as Panda with my tactics. I usually have two more attacking tactics that I change depending how my opponents line up. The formation is the same, but team instructions and roles are a bit different. Then I also have one more cautious tactic that's used for closing out games and for away games against teams that are better than me. So far the tactics have been serving me well as I'm again undefeated in the league after 27 games (21-6-0). I am 2-1 down to PSG in the Champions league though after losing the first leg in Paris.

[Smiffy]

Well that was a quick turn around.

http://s30.postimg.org/d4ag0rbnl/screenshot_777.png

Barely seven months later.

On the plus side. (Because him being back in the Premier League with City is shit!)

http://s30.postimg.org/itqol2htt/screenshot_778.png

£50M roughly. Not bad, not bad.

[Raoul Duke]

Why are you selling off all your good players Smiffy?

[Smiffy]

I'm trying to use only youth intakes. I probably should have kept a good number of them for tutoring purposes but I figured first team football for them would be more beneficial.

http://s30.postimg.org/nuvww6e2p/screenshot_780.png

We've recouped £315M in fees thus far and the wage bill is now down to £1.1M. Unheard of for me.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Lost another four in a row this morning (with two different formations) and on the brink of the sack after dropping to 8th. Once it goes on this version, it goes, and there's no way back.

We scored 48 goals in the 17 league games before Christmas, and 11 in the 15 games since, not to mention a double blank in the Champions League tie (having topped our group ahead of PSG) and a 0-0 penalty loss to Bochum in the cup. I did not change a thing until recently. There was just a point probably 2 games before Christmas when the match engine just decided nah, that's it.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Seeing Smiffy attempting to balance the books is mental.

http://i.imgur.com/w9UuwlC.png

'Mon Smiff, look how beautiful that is. Join the dark side again.

[Smiffy]

It's such a foreign experience but until the remaining £181M is paid off then I'm going to stick at it. I've probably gone about it in the wrong way by getting rid of all those on big wages but ultimately I've had more fun managing just Harker on his lonesome than I have on a good few recent saves. It's rare I go Liverpool, even rarer to do this sort of save however it's worthwhile when you see how good some of those you wouldn't have given a chance to have developed.

Grujic being a prime example.

http://s30.postimg.org/4lrjdnzgh/screenshot_781.png

As you're in 3030's Mahow, any chance you can have a quick check and get back to me on the intake dates for England. The site I used only goes up to 2021. It's a shame I'm only using my own youth as some of the prospects with this 200 youth rating thing are mental.

[Smiffy]

Get fucked. :moop:

http://s30.postimg.org/uee2o6af5/screenshot_782.png

[phonics]

Blimey,

3 games left in the season, I have to earn 1 point from Bayern, Cologne and Shalke. Bayern beat me 5-0, Cologne win 2-0, I hold a team meeting only to destroy the confidence of every player I have.

We win 4-1 with Auba scoring a hat-trick :cool:

First title I've won on this game in 2 years.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Whenever I played Bayern (I think I've given up now), we always had the better of the game only for Lewandowski to rattle in just enough goals to win whether it be 3-2, 2-1 or whatever. That repeated literally about 5 times. Didn't even get a draw off the fuckers.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

2022 - 06/03
2023 - 08/03
2024 - 02/03
2025 - 11/03
2026 - 06/03
2027 - 10/03
2028 - 02/03
2029 - 09/03
2030 - 01/03

If you want the earlier years from my save just say so, Smiff.

You can send over £50m to my GKS account to say thanks.

[Smiffy]

Top job. I'm thinking I may have to raid others. Is that allowed on YDWAWK saves or am I doing it the proper way? Intakes aren't static so I could reload save until I fill in the positions I need or go poaching which ideally I want to avoid.

[Danny]

http://www.passion4fm.com/football-manager-2017-newgens-dates-annual-youth-intake/

Raiding others isnt a YDWAWK game.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The whole point is that you're at the mercy of fortune and could end up without a decent left back for 20 years.

[Smiffy]

That could prove problematic. :moop: I seem to get wingers, goalkeepers or full backs.

Other than those already on the books at the start, I would say this geezer has been the best midfielder we've had and he's struggling to get a look in this season.

http://s30.postimg.org/jfu2xvo01/screenshot_785.png

I found the players I sent on loan for six months in January mostly benefited more than they did featuring for our U23's, I figured the facilities and coaching we have would have made a bigger difference as I'm sure I read that somewhere.

I should probably look to change tactic but it's working well despite meaning wingers aren't high on my list.

[Gray Fox]

Sweet jesus, why have you not turned player faces off? I'd not ever want to click on him again.

[Smiffy]

Hunter is worse. I'm sure he's a bit...inbred.

http://s30.postimg.org/5g5tayqf5/screenshot_786.png

[Giggles]

:D

http://i.imgur.com/WIiB5S9.png

[Reg]

They must make newgens creepy on purpose. The 'random face' generator when you create a manager is way better; they actually look like real people.

[Yevrah]

I don't really understand why they all look so fucked. They were fine in previous versions.

[Raoul Duke]

Because they don't properly QA stuff before they release it

[Giggles]

There's a lot of stuff in this version would make you wonder if they even play it at all.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

:D

http://i.imgur.com/WIiB5S9.png

Same happened on my save, although they didn't chuck Mourinho.

They've won the Premiership 11 times in my save (8 in a row right now), 4 Champions Leagues, 1 Euro Cup, 2 FA Cups and 5 EFL cups.

Not too bad.

[Yevrah]

Because they don't properly QA stuff before they release it

Well obviously I'm aware of that, but the game is what, 2/3 months old now and they're still fucked. How hard can it be to patch it?

[Yevrah]

Norwich Season 19/20

After the really disappointing end to last season I decided to clear out a lot of the Norwich players I'd inherited that were either a) getting old or b) were never that good in the first place.

https://s28.postimg.org/6eweha5d9/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/rok0s4lnt/)[/url]

I had planned to relax the purse strings a bit more, but through a combination of work permit fuckwitery, clubs asking for obscene amounts and just losing out to bigger clubs, only these three joined.


https://s23.postimg.org/mmgh2q8tn/Untitled.jpg (https://postimage.org/)

https://s27.postimg.org/6dy335wkj/Untitled.jpg (https://postimage.org/)

https://s27.postimg.org/vdhdso5bn/Untitled.jpg (https://postimage.org/)



Overall that meant I've had to rely a lot on the youngsters I've brought in over the last 3 seasons, which I was worried would harm us, but once again we're firmly mid-table as we hit the halfway point.

https://s27.postimg.org/ytxe1l3w3/Untitled.jpg (https://postimage.org/)[url=https://postimage.org/]

van Ginkel's contract expires in 18 months and the git wants £80k to renew, which would totally fuck my wage structure. Real are sniffing around him (even though I've set an asking price of £50m) so I might try and force that move in the 2020 Winter window.

The training facilities are now state of the art, with Youth Facilities currently being upgraded again from superb. We've also just tipped over £100m in the bank for the first time and with the wage spend down to £630k p/w (only |Fulham in the Premier League are spending less) so we should be well set towards building a new stadium as soon as the board will let me.

[Pen]

I did my third consecutive Champions league and Premier league double with Bolton. Lost in the FA cup final again (the only thing I've been unable to win). Spent the summer harnessing the best youths in Europe, but I'm not sure if I'm going to continue with this save as my team is just too good. Southampton and West Ham are both in the Championship and I'm hoping one of them will sack their manager so I could move there.

[Reg]

What sort of players are you able to attract now, Yev? I'd have thought you might sign a bigger name that season.

The left-back looks a find.

[Yevrah]

I can't really attract that many players, not being in Europe really does damage that.

I could have spent a lot more than I have I guess, but I was trying to keep things reasonably realistic and in the realms of what Norwich would do in reality, which sadly, isn't spend much money.

[Reg]

Fair play. You must be looking forward to the next couple youth intakes with those facilities.

Have you decided on any goals or taking it as it comes?

[Giggles]

Going to miss this lad in a big way. Season and a half on loan but they won't budge under his release clause of €82m.

PFA Player of the Year, FWA Player of the Year, Young Player of the Year, and Golden Boot. Absolute beast.

http://i.imgur.com/S1jYYhA.png

[Yevrah]

Oh, I forgot to mention, I could sign a 34 year old Wayne Rooney (for the lols), but it'd be such a mistake. His technical stats are reasonable still, but physically, he's a wreck.

First actual signing of the window is this chap.

https://s30.postimg.org/ynf71k8xt/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/b977pmr0d/)

£9m from Twente.

[Yevrah]

Fair play. You must be looking forward to the next couple youth intakes with those facilities.

Have you decided on any goals or taking it as it comes?

I'd love to get a new stadium actually, probably more than anything else at the moment. I think Carrow Road can only be expanded to fit 33,000 in (which we've hit and haven't been able to ask for an increase on for ages now). Delia keeps knocking back my requests for a new one though, citing that we don't have the demand. :moop:

[Yevrah]

Marco Veratti has just joined Man Utd in my game for £110m. Must be the biggest transfer I've ever seen from the cpu in FM/CM.

[Smiffy]

http://s30.postimg.org/yvlle77lt/screenshot_789.png

That's the downside to starting with a big club, I guess.

Maxed out too easily.

http://s30.postimg.org/8v7qw6u69/screenshot_790.png

If I understood how to get 5 star coaches better then my youth will improve more, right? I've never been able to fill get them all to 5 stars.

[Yevrah]

One thing I've never understood about coaches, is what gains do you get by having youth ones as opposed to just training the kids using the first team ones?

[Jimmy Floyd]

I've changed pace for a bit and gone to an international game with Antigua & Barbuda, for a little break before I go back to a club game which tend to end up doing my head in. The squad is pretty fun, the biggest name probably being Dexter Blackstock, as well as whom there are a couple of players from the lower reaches of the Football League, several from non-league and the rest based in Antigua who, apart from legendary frontman Peter Byers, are all shite. There are a few others in the English leagues who have Antiguan nationality but won't play for us as of yet, most notably Che Adams at Birmingham, so hopefully a couple might switch allegiance at some point once they realise that the England call will not be coming.

Early doors we find ourselves in the Caribbean Cup, but first an odd friendly double header against Bonaire, which I didn't know was even a country or indeed a place of any kind, but apparently it is. It was nice to shake hands with their head of state, the Fresh Prince. A 1-1 draw over in wherever the fuck Bonaire is (from the names I'm guessing it's an old Dutch colony) was followed by a 2-0 win at home once I switched to 4-2-4, which gets the best out of our meagre talents.

For the Caribbean Cup itself, to make the semis and qualify for the Gold Cup we had to top a three-team group which also featured Jamaica and Barbados. Jamaica started the party by thrashing Barbados 5-1, so we had to do the same but could only manage a 4-2 win. We therefore went into the Jamaica game needing to beat them, which is a tall order given all of their players are better than all of ours. Nevertheless, we raced into a 2-0 lead, with goals from Grimsby and Margate players, before this happened:

http://i.imgur.com/BJDP1NI.png

Pretty much writing the book on second half collapses but the skill and fitness differentials made it rather inevitable. I thought that was our long shot at the Gold Cup gone but no, apparently if we get through another labyrinthine set of playoffs we may yet get there. We now have another three-team group involving Cuba and Suriname, which we have to top to get into yet another round of playoffs. It's all quite fun though and doesn't yet make me want to smash the laptop to pieces like club football does.

[Smiffy]

You've got bob hope getting Che Adams to Antigua, Jimmy. He's a beast of a player.

You should have relived Botswana!

[Jimmy Floyd]

He's not going to play for England, though, so he should bloody well be playing for me.

The sheer excitement when I discover some two-bit midfielder at Woking with an Antiguan passport that hadn't come up in previous searches could not be replicated with Botswana.

[Smiffy]

Please do a story if you get into it.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I haven't got that much time, pithy updates are all you'll get.

[Giggles]

Southampton 2021/22.

Premier League

http://i.imgur.com/fTpGim7.png

Champions League

http://i.imgur.com/w3xkQt5.png

Transfers

http://i.imgur.com/wSuRRGG.png

Squad Stats

http://i.imgur.com/pUSNZwO.jpg

[Yevrah]

We're back in the league cup final again.

https://s23.postimg.org/nqw2422ln/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/qkz7hi4rr/)

To play Guardiola's Man City.

Europe would be teh awesome.

[Dark Soldier]

I've never been able to fill get them all to 5 stars.

You can get a max 5 stars in all but you'll need like a 50/60 year career. At the start, with opening coaches and going off Geniescout, its impossible to get 5 star in all categories unless you can attract Guardiola and other managers to your coaching team. Occasionally some regens/retired stars can reach 5 stars, but its rare as feck.

I used Genie Scout for my entire coaching staff and I think 3 or so of the categories are still 4 and a half stars, in 2022 going on 2023.

[Smiffy]

How much are you enjoying Colidio, Giggles? Why so few starts?

I've just hit January after a month long slog. Nine matches in five different competitions, four different countires with one being Egypt for the Club World Cup. Not so bad except I have a squad of 24. two of whom were injured throughout. In that run we knocked Fulham out the EFL, beat LA Galaxy and Gremio in the nonsense cup, victory over Shahkter ensured top spot in the Champions League. Final four teams drawn for the knock out was ourselves, Dortmund, Man United and Basel. I'll let you guys guess who got who.

We actually have Man United next, traiing them by eight points and ten behind league leaders City althrough we have three games in hand. Touch and go but again I think top four is going to be a good result. Media have predicted 6th.

Look at the state of that.

http://s30.postimg.org/xaycg7mm9/screenshot_791.png

[Smiffy]

You can get a max 5 stars in all but you'll need like a 50/60 year career. At the start, with opening coaches and going off Geniescout, its impossible to get 5 star in all categories unless you can attract Guardiola and other managers to your coaching team. Occasionally some regens/retired stars can reach 5 stars, but its rare as feck.

I used Genie Scout for my entire coaching staff and I think 3 or so of the categories are still 4 and a half stars, in 2022 going on 2023.

Would you say it makes a great deal of difference?

[Dark Soldier]

Would you say it makes a great deal of difference?

Nah I'm always happy with 4 star or above to be honest. 4 and a half star is fecking amazing, 5 star is just a wee bump up. Its fairly easy to get 5 star in GK and Fitness though.

Plus I always make my manager at least a 4 and a half star coach (5 star with the top badges) in Attacking as that seems the hardest to find.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Lost 2-3 to Cuba and 3-4 to Suriname, which sounds fun enough but the game between the other two finished 5-5. Maybe everyone's been smoking the usual Caribbean fare. Or maybe, as with all recent versions of FM, there are simply too many shots and too many goals.

Giggles: Hauling Flotow in the Champions League final :cool:

[Yevrah]

Talking of staff, Boro just nicked my Assistant Manager and upon looking for another one I can across this beast.

https://s27.postimg.org/qt655hob7/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/691b708jz/)

[Giggles]

Lost 2-3 to Cuba and 3-4 to Suriname, which sounds fun enough but the game between the other two finished 5-5. Maybe everyone's been smoking the usual Caribbean fare. Or maybe, as with all recent versions of FM, there are simply too many shots and too many goals.

Giggles: Hauling Flotow in the Champions League final :cool:

He started right wing for the first time as I wanted him and Colidio to both play. He's definitely a striker.

Keeps dedicating his awards to me and Southampton are his favourite club. I'm still contemplating stumping up the €82m to get him and going with 2 up front with him and Colidio.

[Jimmy Floyd]

If he's scoring better than a goal a game and has those stats, surely it's worth sinking part of the city in order to make it happen.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I've got 5 in fitness and tactics (I gave Raul Herrera quite a bit to come to ours as a coach). The rest are 4.5, I can't find 5s in the rest in my game.

I also use genie scouts for coaches (fuck filters, I've been burnt too many times), they say one of my GK coaches should be a 5 star but he isn't :\

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Talking of staff, Boro just nicked my Assistant Manager and upon looking for another one I can across this beast.

https://s27.postimg.org/qt655hob7/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/691b708jz/)

:nodd:

I've got Jaap too, he was 5* in defending for me but he's dropped down to 4.5 this season.

[Giggles]

If he's scoring better than a goal a game and has those stats, surely it's worth sinking part of the city in order to make it happen.

I must have a look at the finances too. I think the club is rich again after a brief spell of okay a couple of years ago. I've renewed some contracts lately though and they're astronomical - Kerkhofs, van Dijk, Suarez, and Keita are all on over €200k a week.

[Yevrah]

So despite having the best youth facilities I've ever had, my youth intake this season were all absolute shite.

[Yevrah]

Fuck yeah!

https://s28.postimg.org/4wm1zb9al/Untitled.jpg (https://postimg.org/image/3ubvgrqh5/)

:alan:

[Jimmy Floyd]

So despite having the best youth facilities I've ever had, my youth intake this season were all absolute shite.

That comes from youth recruitment doesn't it?

You need to get into the Norfolk schools.

[Yevrah]

Ah, yeah, meant Youth Recuitment.

[Giggles]

If he's scoring better than a goal a game and has those stats, surely it's worth sinking part of the city in order to make it happen.

I got my transfer kitty; €96m, happy days, but they've given him a new deal with a €117m release clause. He only cost them €82,000 a week too :(

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Barter, you can get him.

[Giggles]

They've turned down up as far as €92m as it is. Looks like Colidio it is next season.

[Smiffy]

Youth intake arrived and I got well excited.

http://s30.postimg.org/mwosev41t/screenshot_792.png

But no. Not mine. :moop:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I still haven't had a son and it's now 2013 (11/03 for the intake this year, Smiff) so they're right on the realism with that :(

[phonics]

How do you put a Genie Scout shortlist into the game itself? Every time I try to import one it errors out.