[FM10] My Call for Assistance

Hey guys

You may have seen various careers threads I've had in the past. Basically, I'm not very good at FM. At least not till now. Who knows what FM10 might have in store? I am a massive Arsenal fan and though I have ummed an aaahed about using the new editor to create something fancy, for the moment, once I get my game tomorrow, I will be playing as Arsenal in a world that is unedited, save for perhaps a couple of extra levels of the English pyramid for realism, and the tournament names which of course are always wrong!

My plan, as it was last time, is that I will open the door to my major FM career (I think it's likely this will be that, as I love Arsenal and I really enjoyed helping Cesc Fabregas get close to breaking all sorts of appearance records in the last game, before it crashed on me a few games before he did!!). In return what I want is a HUMAN assistant manager. I know the game's AssMan has improved, but I think some human input would be good.

However, the first thing I want to know from people is what sort of changes they think I should make to the database. Purely for realism. Is adding a few extra tiers and renaming competitions enough? Can anyone think of anything else that would be useful? The other things I'd like are links to logo/face/kit etc packs - it's always nice to have a fully functioning graphics set. I will be starting this game at some point tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon/evening.

So, to sum up - for the moment the request is for:

1) advice on what to edit on the DB - which competitions need renaming (other than the obvious), which level is best to go down to, etc.

2) links and advice on graphics. I would like to see stadium backgrounds for all the clubs, plus logos, kits and faces, at the very least. Any bonus gfx on top of that -- great!

3) starting advice - which players possibly should be sold in the first window, signed in the first window, initial tactics etc. Obviously I do have my own ideas on this, and I'm tempted to keep it realistic by disabling transfers in the first window so that I can assess my squad for a few months. What do people think of that?

Start suggesting - as I have done before, the people who contribute the most will have staff "nicknamed" after them. This will be done on a rolling basis so if you give me some advice and I name someone after you, you need to keep going in order to stay there. The better the advice, the more important you will be - from a crappy scout right up to my Assistant Manager and perhaps even the Chairman!! Screenshots will always be posted!

By the way, mods - there was another thread before that seemed corrupted - it had someone else's post as the starter, so I've reposted like this. Sorry if I made a mistake somewhere!!

3. Your initial post must state:-
a. Version of FM used - [i]I will be using FM10, with the first patch that was released today (release day)[/i]
b. The DB version used - [i]Not sure yet, see above!![/i]
c. Any edits you have made - Ditto!!

Also looking for a new skin for FM10 - I'm not sure I'm a fan of the new layout having tried out the demo. That said, I'm willing to try it for a while, see how it goes....

Links to Season Updates - scroll down to relevant post to see them "in place"!

2009-10 (post 16)

2010-11 (post 33)

2011-12 (post 61)

2012-13 (post 151)

2013-14 (post 219)

2014-15 (post 239)

2015-16 (post 243)

2016-17 (post 246)

2017-18 (post 253)

Try the skinning Hideout

None yet. But graphics are a must before my major game. Anyone have any ideas what else needs editing?

Incidentally, whenever I try to run the editor, it tells me it's already running! Any idea how i can get into it?

OK well I worked out the editor and have started the game, at the moment with a small database. I might decide early on to start again with a bigger one, but I think playing as Arsenal, a small one should suffice. Also only have the "League" levels (i.e. Prem-Lg 2) active. Had an interesting start, losing 2-0 to the Scum at the Lane. But a solid 2-1 win away at Stuttgart has me back on track, Bendtner proving a surprise star in that game. Updates will follow, in miniature apart from detailed end of season reports. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I can't sign anyone until January though - I wanted to give it some extra realism by forcing me to stick with my current squad during the first transfer window...

...and Nic continues his good form, putting us 2-0 up at Emirates against Chelsea!!!

Well it's definitely been a mixed start to the season. Finding the new tactics module quite tough at the moment - unless you're prepared to create a whole new tactic each time you make a substitution, it's very complicated. Best example - Bendtner is obviously a target man if he's at the head of a 4-3-3 spear, whereas if it's Eduardo, he's obviously a poacher........

For what it's worth, here are screenshots of my 4-3-2-1 formation, slightly more defensive, and usually used in away matches or tigher home games. And also my 4-4-2 formation, used in games where I'm favourites or after I go behind against a bigger team sometimes...

Any advice would be good, my wonderful AssMen

Hey guys

No idea if anyone is reading this but I hope so. Please start giving me some feedback - any screenshot requests will be obliged

My latest set of results and the table - as you can see we're struggling a bit. It's irritating because, just like in real life, we look brilliant most of the time but then we slip up now and then for no reason....especially that last game against West Ham, when we were really shocking.

Never seen snow like this....

We're currently 2-0 up after 22 minutes

This is a very interesting lay out GreyedOutMan

Prehaps use your opening post to give the readers automatic knowledge of the fact you are playing as Arsenal. Other than that its good, looking foward to the season update.

And for the Snow....

Ah! Thanks for the post, I guess I will be nicknaming Baldini, my assistant, Saxonaitor give me some feedback after the season summary is posted...

Check this out.

Arsenal, Season 2009-10

Summary

A really good season for the Gunners this year. Every one of the strikers contributed so we scored plenty of goals. The two formations I had seemed to work very well and usually I managed to get the right one for the right games, I think. The season included an unbeaten run of 25 games in all competitions, including nice wins over Liverpool in the cup and Man City in the league, as well as consecutive draws against Liverpool and Chelsea, both in the league, in the space of barely 48 hours. Unfortunately, the end of the run was a 5-1 thumping in the Champions League, followed by defeat at home to Stoke. Still, it was a good run that meant we were still in with a chance of the title even then. The arrival of Vincenzo Iaquinta, during this long run, was absolutely central to this form. His Arsenal career started like a house on fire, scoring 7 goals in his first 8 hours of football for the club, including consecutive hat-tricks against Anderlecht and Fulham. And in fact he dried up a bit just as the run came to an end. But he stormed back into life in the FA Cup Semi Final, scoring yet another hat-trick and another in the shootout, albeit in an ultimately losing cause, as we lost narrowly on penalties at Wembley after a 3-3 draw.

Transfers

Iaquinta was easily the standout. Rolfes was very disappointing given the size of his transfer fee but it was a bit of a panic buy as I really needed a player in that position having sold Song. Gotze and Beerens were players for the future and played only bit-parts this season. Rolfes will get another year to prove himself – it’s a centre back and a goalkeeper I want to focus on over the summer. Diaby has be re-trained as a DMC in order to cover.

Competition Reports

Premiership

A very encouraging start, qualification for the Champions’ League was secured and there was a significant and sustained title challenge at last. It was only after the dismal performance at Upton Park in mid-April when we were 3-0 down at half-time that the realistic chance of a league title seemed to be over. We need to cut out that occasional shocker that seems to have been a real problem this season. The United game soon after that saw us lose two leads against United again...very frustrating, although, like every game that season against the Red Devils, we were by far the better team! 16 shots to their 4, 8 on target to their 3, 54% of the possession – it was not our day. After that game, the table was so close that with three games to go, we were only 4 points off Chelsea at the top, but Spurs were in the driving seat for the Champions League place, and six teams had a theoretical chance of the title! It was all the more frustrating when I checked the 5-game form, and found that we had picked up just five points in those five games. If we could have picked up just nine from those five, we would have gone into the last three games level on points with Chelsea at the top. Luckily, Spurs lost at Man City the next day, leaving us with games against Birmingham, Wigan and Burnley to win in order to secure Champions’ League football. It was only going to get more exciting. Chelsea threw the league into a frenzied excitement with a 1-0 defeat at home to Bolton, and suddenly I wondered if I might get very lucky and was beginning to wonder if the West Ham game was really the end of our title aspirations... United won at the same time that I convincingly beat Birmingham to draw level on points with Chelsea, and at that point, if Spurs won their game in hand, just two points could separate the top FIVE teams as the run in got more and more dramatic. Liverpool’s goalless draw at home to Blackburn left the top three level on points with two matches left, with Arsenal one point back, and Spurs one further behind. This almost defies belief so here is a cut-down screenshot. Yes, it really was true. Even now, we had only 5 points from 5 games, and now just one more goal which changed a result would have propelled us from 4th to top of the table.

This section won’t usually be this long but I’m sure you will agree that this run-in deserved special coverage. May 1st was the day when I felt the title was more or less definitely out of our reach. Man Utd, Chelsea and Spurs all won, and though two Arsenal wins would guarantee a finish above the old enemy from the Lane, the idea that both Chelsea and United would fail to win their last game was far-fetched, although Liverpool’s 1-1 draw at Goodison Park the next day meant that 3rd place was back in our own hands. The home game with Wigan was properly nerve-racking! I knew that a big win could well be useful as the goal-difference situation was quite close, so I played a very attacking formation against opposition I felt we had the potential to really tear apart. A 3-0 win would see us going into the last day level on goal difference with Chelsea, and only a point back. Although the likelihood of winning the title on goal difference was virtually zero because it would require both Manchester United and Chelsea to lose their last game, and Liverpool not to win, it could easily have been the difference between 2nd and 3rd or 3rd and 4th . We made a good start with a 3rd minute goal from Rolfes, and Bendtner made it two mid-way through the 1st half. With participation in the last-day scramble virtually assured, I asked the lads to really try to go for it in the 2nd half, knowing that a few more goals could be crucial. But the all-important third goal was not forthcoming, Iaquinta missing the best chance we had. This was the top of the table going into that last day of the season – as you can see, it really was about as close as it gets.

Just nine minutes in, the plot thickened, although my interest in it diminished – Rooney put United ahead against Hull. It put the pressure on Chelsea to beat Everton, but I more or less wrote off my title chances once and for all at this point, despite being fully aware of having written them off so many times before! Chelsea responded on 22 minutes through Alex, and at the same exact moment, Iaquinta heaped the pressure back on the top two to keep their nerve. Then there was another twist in this stupidly close season – afro-man Fellaini equalised for Everton. The top three was, at that stage, Man U – Arsenal – Chelsea. It seemed then that it would almost certainly, unsurprisingly, be one of those three – Iaquinta more or less guaranteed that with a 2nd goal shortly before half-time. The second half was all about score-watching the Old Trafford and Stamford Bridge games, with Arsenal’s result never looking in doubt:

**55’ : Rossi – Man Utd 2 Hull 0

**62’: Rossi – Man Utd 3 Hull 0

This was, of course, the end of my title challenge. It also meant Chelsea couldn’t finish 2nd – a draw would see us finish there, whereas a win would give Chelsea the title and leave us in just 3rd. Could they get the goal?

...No! Amazingly, Manchester United had stolen the league title from right under Chelsea’s noses – a result that meant that the Gunners had sneaked into 2nd place. I also unlocked “Unstoppable force” – I scored more than any other team. Must fix a slightly leaky defence. Hope you enjoyed what was, for me, one of the most exciting FM experiences of my entire life.

And this was the final table after one of the closest finishes in footballing history. No major surprises really, the relegated teams were fairly predictable, and no teams really looked out of place though perhaps the distance Hull were from safety by the end was surprising. This link will usually go above the report, but in this case, I didn’t want you looking at it before reading the report!! And as mentioned before, the only reason for the rather exaggerated length of this part of the report is the absurdly close finish. It will usually be one paragraph!

The Champions’ League

Pretty shocking performance in Madrid did most of the damage as Atletico brought this run to a disappointing end. The first leg performance meant that even a fantastic display in the 2nd leg was never going to be enough. We were 2-0 up at half time and looking good, but we needed to go for it and really get stuck in, and when Gallas was sent off for a 2nd yellow and Aguero scored for Atletico soon after, the tie was effectively over, and the boys lost all fight, as if they realised it was, by then, hopeless. Not that I had really expected much after that first leg! Atletico got hammered by their more illustrious next door neighbours 5-0 on aggregate in the semi final, and Real went on to claim their TENTH Champions’ League title against their other major rivals, Barcelona.

The e.on FA Cup

Eduardo was the unlucky man in that shootout at Wembley, and Arsenal were the unlucky team, after being by far the better team on the day. More shots, more shots on target and more possession but United got lucky. Although having been two nil up we were perhaps guilty of failing to close the game out and reach the final which would have been a North London Derby for, I believe, the first time ever. Spurs beat United in the final, amazingly.

The Carling Cup

The kids got a tough draw first up and more than held their own although this was the only time this season that United secured a deserved victory against us. In the three other games, we won one and deserved to win the two other games, which ended in draws. The trophy went to Manchester City, who beat Chelsea in the final.

The squad, with selected stats for all competitions, ordered by the amount of time they spent on the pitch – a rough guide to their importance to the team I suppose.

Key Players

Note on player profiles: when I do them on my laptop they cut out one value on each column. I will try to do them on a desktop usually but otherwise I will just select the most important one to show.

Nicklas Bendtner

A real revelation this season, almost becoming only the second player to score 30 goals in a season since the great Thierry Henry. 28 goals is remarkable, especially for a player who played only about 70% of the time. The surprise package, and he was 2nd in the Footballer of the Year award, and won the Golden Boot, pipping Torres by virtue of having played two fewer games (they both had 25 league goals).

Vincenzo Iaquinta

A bargain buy at just under £5m, made an absolutely storming start to his Arsenal career and promises to contribute plenty of goals for a few years or so. He’s not young but the low fee meant that I don’t really mind losing him for nothing through a bosman or retirement after a few years of scoring a decent amount of goals. His contribution this year was a major factor towards getting so close to the title, with 15 goals in just 15 starts, including 3 hat-tricks. Named by TeamTalk.com as the signing of the season.

Robin Van Persie

In most seasons his name would have come before Bendtner’s. 21 goals is no mean feat. But in fact Robin’s place on this list isn’t due to his goalscoring but to his general contribution. An Average Rating of 7.27, the best in the squad amongst those who had more than 2,000 minute on the pitch by some distance, he also contributed 10 assists. He played almost as much on the wing as up front and his form didn’t suffer for this. He was the Arsenal Fans’ Player of the Year.

Andrey Arshavin

20 assists for the Russian wizard. Significantly more than the great Cesc Fabregas. Fantastic. Claimed the footballer of the year, quite rightly.

Notable others: Cesc Fabregas (2nd in Players’ Player of the Year), Gael Clichy, Thomas Vermaelen and Aaron Ramsey (Players’ Young Player of the Year).

Other Squad Info

Other than the awards mentioned above, quite a few players were selected in the Premiership Team of the Year.

Finances

Clear as mud, this. This is one of my biggest problems with FM10 – the new skin makes finances much harder to work out. Hoping someone will produce a skin to rectify this soon. Basically, we made a profit despite a £25m net transfer spend. Not bad going. £31m in prize money is helpful...and the new kit sponsorship deal sees this income jump from £3m to £5.75m which is also encouraging. Also, just to note that the actual figures show a slight loss for the season but a massive profit in the new season so I guess that’s just down to the cut-off point being odd.

New Youth Cohort

The pick of a promising bunch. What it is it with Arsenal’s youth system and left backs?!

International

ITALY retained the World Cup in South Africa, beating France in the final. Major shocks included:

Groups: Spain’s failure to qualify from their group (Portugal and Ivory Coast beat them to it)

2nd Round: Switzerland’s penalty triumph over Argentina, Serbia’s win over Germany (ha ha)

Quarter Final: England winning a penalty shootout!

Semi Final: No shocks, but a return to form for England, losing on penalties to France. Gareth “Southgate” Barry the latest name to add to the list of crucial penalty misses for England. They lost to 1-0 Holland in the 3rd Place Playoff.

So with all this in mind, what do you think I should be looking at doing next season? Any tactical suggestions? Any thoughts on who should be leaving/joining? Anything at all, please do contribute. Lets get this thread up and running properly now we have a season report up.

Check this out.

:D

I always knew I was World Class material...

Iaquinta seems like a good bargin and as for the title race..

Remenber to give me a pay rise next season.

Saxonaitor

Might just do that. Fwiw your "real name" is Franco Baldini. And yes - is that the closest you've ever seen?? Any thoughts from the season summary post?

Pretty Much the closest iv'e seen, not ever played one that close to be sure. Season Summary was Great but prehaps try to keep the font all the same size, gets a bit of a strain on the old eyes.

Mr Baldini

Franco

Dont you think headings make it easier to navigate?

Anyway...

Decent start to the season. After this maddening result, the table looks like this. A shame after a game like that, would be looking really strong with a couple of extra points. We have kept six consecutive clean sheets in the league...

PS: Check out the scum

Has the facegen technology been improved for FM10? Had a look through some of my regens and they seem a little more ... realistic? Or is that just me?

I've got a bit of a problem. My backroom advice keeps saying we get overawed by high-reputation opponents. And indeed, I keep losing leads against them. Chelsea, United, Liverpool....I think I've been ahead in almost every game against them, and though I have won some, I have lost a lot of leads. Similar story in Europe really against the bigger opposition. Thing is, the backroom staff TELL me this but they dont tell me how to sort it out. Thoughts?

I think this is what you call the last layer of skin of your teeth!

Yes - a defeat would have seen us TOTALLY out of Europe!!! And Spartak would have been group winners, instead of out themselves! Amazing. This has to be one of the most dramatic FM games EVER! You're glued to your seats, right?

That's certainly a close one!! I'd have been devastated when it initially hit the net.

Oh I was!!

One of those nights when you know its a good night, but you just think..."Oh what could have been..."

Season update coming tomorrow evening or possibly Saturday.

hey just read through your thread, love it! Arsenal fan myself never really pushed myself to make an Arsenal game cus I thought it would be to easy... but judging by the action your getting out of your save I might have to give it a go

Btw, Bendtner scoring 28 goals in your first season..? What did you do to him? O_O

He's doing really well this year too. He has shot up in FM10 - looking set to be an Arsenal legend. He's been keeping RvP, Iaquinta, Eduardo and co out of the side...

Well

This game is starting to get ridiculously exciting. Still, I'm not complaining with a result like that!

This game more or less ended my title challenge...or rather the first 10 minutes did. It was a shame because for 80 minutes we were on top. Wont tell you how close we were just yet...

Oh, and for the second successive season, we lost an FA Cup Semi-Final. Annoying.

Ouch. Playing the kids in the cups or just the carling cup? ^^

Btw, tried playing Bendtner on the right wing as an inside forward? My thoughts on tactics would be to have Arshavin on the left as an advanced playmaker, Van Persie as a Trequartista (however you spell it ) and Bendtner as an inside forward, kind of like how arsene has it in real life. Just a suggestion on how to mix it up, but sounds like your doing well with the tactics you have xD

Just the Carling Cup, and even then it's a semi-full team.

Bendtner does well as a lone Target Man - thats how he's scored all his goals. The ME doesnt like Benchner on the wing. It's two from Walcott/Arshavin/Van Persie/Boudebouz/Vela/Traore/Lansbury/Barazite. I'd say Walcott and Van P are the most common combination at the moment but I do mix it about quite a bit, and Lansbury has been doing REALLY well in central midfield recently. Scores loads of screamers. Only works in my 4-5-1 formation though.

Arsenal, Season 2010-11

Summary

A qualified improvement on last year. No trophies, but significant progress in the cup competitions combined with an increased points tally (indeed, one that would have won the league last year) is a good step in the right direction. A nine-game winning streak in all competitions from February to April constituted the best run since my tenure began. However it was most definitely a bad-luck season – we lost in two semi-finals, both times to cruel late, late goals. See below. I think I have a decent claim to being the unluckiest Arsenal manager of all time.

Transfers

Almost entirely buys with the future in mind. Some duds, probably, to be honest. Boudebouz had a good start but faded away quickly. He might be a prospect for the next few years, although the form of certain other players might halt this We’ll see. No marquee signings, this year.

Competition Reports

Premiership

Nothing like as exciting this season. The Positions Graph tells you everything you need to know really. There was a title race, but our failure to beat Chelsea at the Bridge on April 13th was pretty much the final nail in the coffin. Still, a consolidation was a good thing I think, and 2nd is no mean feat in this league. Couple of big signings for next year, financed mainly by a few big name sales, should help us push up to at least finish closer to the top again, like last year.

The Premiership Table. Scunthorpe were sent scampering back to the Championship with their tails between their legs, whilst Pompey’s financial troubles got the better o them, and Stoke were victims of a cruel final-day twist, with West Brom managing a point at Eastlands against cash-rich Manchester City. At £28m, Emiliano Insua has been their biggest signing so far, bizarrely. Hard on poor Stoke, really. Birmingham, Reading and Burnley (who beat Middlesbrough in the playoff final) will join the big boys next season. Man City did replace Liverpool in the top 4, and Wolves had a stunning season to finish only 6 points from the Europa League. But the season belonged, in reality, to Carlos Tevez,whose record-breaking season will probably never be matched.

The Champions’ League

Despite this historic and stupidly tense night, we suffered yet more Semi-Final heartache this year, going out cruelly in Turin. However, to run the big boys this close can only be a good sign. With seconds remaining, I was dreaming of being that man to finally bring old Big Arms to North London. Maybe next season.

The e.on FA Cup

Yet more Wembley heartache in yet another semi-final heartbreak. This is of course the third year running that Arsenal have lost an FA Cup Semi-Final. The first was the real life defeat to Chelsea in 2009 of course...but seriously, any chance I might get a break one day, FM Gods? An 80th minute penalty gave Liverpool the trophy, beating Chelsea 2-1 in the final.

The Carling Cup

A better run for the kids this year, albeit against easier opposition. It was a mixture of youth and experience, and the Stoke defeat was a genuine shock, I have to admit. Sorry I cant producea screenshot, the game is no longer stored on the DB.

The squad.

With selected stats for all competitions, ordered by the amount of time they spent on the pitch – a rough guide to their importance to the team I suppose.

Key Players

Note on player profiles: when I do them on my laptop they cut out one value on each column. I will try to do them on a desktop usually but otherwise I will just select the most important one to show.

Aaron Ramsey

Without a doubt the star of the season. He really stepped up to the plate. Because of the wealth of options available and an injury, he was on the pitch for less than half of the total minutes this season, but that does him a disservice. His win ratio of 72% was the highest of any player who played more than 10 games (Musacchio had a 100% win ratio but he only played twice!). We genuinely missed him in the crucial game in Turin. I do actually believe that if he’d been fit, we would have made the Champions’ League Final, being played at the new Wembley for the first time. Barcelona, incidentally, completed their hat-trick of successive finals, this time going one better than last year and beating Juve 2-1 to make it two trophies from three. Back to Ramsey, he also had the highest pass ratio in the team, the 2nd highest number of assists after RvP, and even chipped with 8 goals, behind only Bendtner and Iaquinta. Awesome stuff from the Welshman. Deservedly won the Young Player of the Year award, and got the Goal of the Season gong to go with it. He’s now described as “20-year-old wonderkid Aaron Ramsey”. Starting to wonder how much money I could get for Cesc, to be honest...

Nicklas Bendtner

That man again. Though not quite hitting the heights of last year, Bendtner continued to astound. 26 goals to follow 28 last year – and this is a guy I was expecting to offload in January 2010!!

Vincenzo Iaquinta

To expect Iaquinta to hit the same heights as last year again would have been stupid. The form of other players restricted his chances, too. But his goal return was still well above par, and he’s proved to be probably the best bargain I’ve had in years.

Henri Lansbury

Somewhat of a surprise inclusion given his lack of appearances, but Lansbury was astounding when he played. Each of his 4 goals was a complete stunner, and they came at the right time – this was that run, in order.:

2.4.11 Spurs (H) – Arsenal win 2-0, Lansbury gets the crucial 2nd and instantly makes himself a cult hero.

6.4.11 Man Utd (A) UCL – Lansbury gets only 17 minutes as Arsenal lose but still go through.

9.4.11 Liverpool (W) – Lansbury puts Arsenal ahead, only to be substituted at the start of extra time. Arsenal then go on to lose.

16.4.11 Chelsea (A) – Lansbury scores a crucial goal to get Arsenal back into the game. Arsenal almost force what could have been a crucial victory.

19.4.11 Juventus (H) – Lansbury crowns off a wonderful few weeks with the only goal of the game to leave Arsenal with a great chance of making the final. Unfortunately, his run comes to an end there as he is anonymous in Turin and Arsenal go out with a whimper. But those 17 days were enough to merit his inclusion here.

Notable others:

The back four: Sagna, Clichy, Senderos, Gallas. 204 starts between them this season. They had to go somewhere to keep the likes of Vermaelen, Djourou, Traore and others out of the team, none of whom did anything wrong, but those four were just so consistent. Gallas, 33, was offered a new contract.

Manuel Almunia, going strong at 34, kept a massive 22 clean sheets this season. The league season saw Arsenal’s net bulge four times less than last year, just 34 times, which was a necessary improvement.

Robin Van Persie has been Mr. Reliable this year. Both on the wing and up front, he consistently performed. 8 goals was nothing special but his 18 assists is highly impressive. However, with the form of people like Lansbury and others, it is possible that he will be sold this summer.

Other Squad Info

Other than the awards mentioned above, three players were selected in the Premiership Team of the Year.

Finances

Anyone want to explain this to me? I almost think this might be a bug. If you look at that graph, I really cant see how it is possible that we made a £20m profit this year when the level it is now is more or less exactly the same as 12 months ago, and went up between then and the end of the nominal season, too. It doesn’t make any sense to me, sorry! Anyway, important thing is, £60m in the bank, we’re doing ok. And we’ll be making quite a bit of money this summer with player sales not to mention a large amount of TV money.

Club Records and Awards

>> Highest Gate Receipts: £2.7m vs. Valencia (Group Phase of the Champions’ League)

>> Worst Discipline: Simon Rolfes – 12 yellow, 2 red.

>> I came 2nd in the Manager of the Year Awards.

>> Sagna, Cesc and Walcott were named in the Premiership Select.

>> Ramsey won the Young Player of the Year and scored the Goal of the Season.

>> Internally, Cesc Fabregas won the Fans’ Player of the Year.

The Team of the Year seems to be really bug-ridden – this year Nasri appeared in it twice, and 26-goal Bendtner was ousted in the centre-forward position by 8-goal Van Persie. So here is MY team of the year:

Almunia

Clichy-Senderos-Gallas-Sagna

Rolfes

Ramsey-Fabregas

Nasri-Walcott

Bendtner

Subs: Van Persie, Iaquinta, Vermaelen, Fabianski, Lansbury, Nasri, Denilson

Fabianski and Walcott were inducted into the slightly more meaningful Overall XI.

New Youth Cohort

This was the best of the bunch this year. Oddly, three of the nine cohorts were goalkeepers. Two of them look decent, but he’s the best. Theres also a decent forward player who could make an impact so look out for Joe Hiley in coming years.

International

7 games into Euro 2012 qualifying, England are unbeaten, but lying in 2nd place behind the Czechs. They are playing San Marino next, however. Expect a big showdown in Prague on September 3rd, but barring a big surprise, they’ll both make it to Poland and Ukraine.

Over to you, my wonderful assistants. Any thoughts on sales, signings, tactics or training? Any other aspect? This post itself? Let me know :-)

Particular questions this season: Which players look surplus to requirements, given the amount I could get for them? My shortlist in terms of players who could be sold this summer (Note: I wont sell them all!) reads something like - Eduardo, Arshavin, Nasri, Denilson, Diaby, Senderos (unlikely), Djourou (ditto), Almunia (due to age only - looks like I could get £7.5m for him). So thoughts on which of those could be sold and how much for would be good. Nasri was a whisker away from going to City for a handy £30m but that fell through so I have too many wingers now. Not including Gibbs and Traore who can also play there, I have 8 wingers: Arshavin, Boudebouz, Lansbury, Barazite (just let out on loan), Van Persie, Walcott, Nasri, Vela. Obviously a couple of those can also play up front but I'm playing 4-5-1 more often at the moment really, which almost always means Bendtner or Iaquinta.

Hmm. I'd sell Nasri simply because Van Persie is more versatile. It's a toughy, though. Who are you thinking of bringing in? Like, which position needs bolstering up?

Well with Almunia gone, a goalkeeper is the priority. Might aim for a right-back, but I'm training up Mussachio as Sagna's back-up at the moment. Should be enough, hopefully. Want the squad to settle a bit and to save up some cash reserves, so there wont be many signings this year. Sensible? I'm thinking that could mean that in a couple of years I could have enough to sign a real world-class striker to replace Iaquinta who wont go on forever...

Oh and probably a centre-back if I move Senderos on, which is a possibility. Sakho, unfortunately, is just a bit too pricey this year.

But what do you think the answer to your question is? That's what this thread is all about!

So new keeper then... Hmm. How pricey is Asenjo after 2 seasons? He still at Atletico Madrid? If your willing to spend some decent money there's always Akinfeev. Although they're 2 really obvious choices.

For now I've had to stick with Fabianski because the only decent options (both of those were names that sprang to mind) were over-priced. I've bought in a few youngsters though, including this guy who is 2nd choice despite a dodgy name!

Young keeper with not bad stats. Nothing special, but not bad either. My advise is to search through the German leagues. When I was managing Hoffenheim I always came up against really good keepers, and I'm guessing they'd cost just about as much as Given cost in real life, like 10 million or so. Hildebrand for Hoffenheim, Enke (RIP), few other really good German league keepers in there that really are top notch. Hope it goes well for you next season with Fabianski in goal heh.

He's done OK so far. Obviously not great, but he'll do for the short-term. Decent, affordable goalkeepers who are ready for first team football NOW are....well I havent found a single one yet!

Well I took the plunge. Not sure of the wisdom of it at that price but with Gallas on the way out, it can't do any harm I suppose. Plus I should be able to keep him for ten years and still possibly make a profit on him so...

Also, my bank balance is £100m due to spending only £500k or so in the summer, so I do have plenty to spend. Going to try to offload Gallas in January also, though.

Stuttery start to this season, really. We need to improve, and fast. League record is P12 W6 D3 L3 which isnt really good enough at this level. Any thoughts? I can provide any information you need to try to suggest what might be going wrong?

Those updates are packed full of info.

It makes for a more interesting read for the avid follower but might scare off the more casual reader.

You seem to be on the brink of winning something. keep it up

Seem to be conceding way to much this season. Letting in 3 against Reading, ouch... If I find any good affordable keepers (well, my scouts in game:P) I'll let you know.

Defence has tightened up a bit this season tbh - but its still not great.

Those updates are packed full of info.

It makes for a more interesting read for the avid follower but might scare off the more casual reader.

Is this a compliment?!

If so, thanks. Would really appreciate some assistant feedback if you're any good at FM - any info you need in order to make any suggestions, I'm always happy to give....

My latest signing is a gem. Cost me a pretty penny (£13m) and is still awaiting a Work Permit, but should happen.

How good is he?!

Did it go through? ^^

Not yet, but I'm pretty much certain it will.

Any other thoughts? Happy to provide any info/screenshots that you need...

Hmm, I'm not sure. Nothing wrong with his technical stats, but his mental ones are a bit poor. Could affect his training - might not reach his maximum with such average work rate etc.

+ For the hefty price of 13 million, sure is risky. Don't think Arsene would go through with it , heh.

Tell me how he progresses

Oh come on, he's awesome!

Disaster, however.