dafuge's FM10 challenge

[SnakeXe]

Giantkillers!

Great result!

You never know about players stepping up, I had two centre-backs who played with us every level between BSS and Championship, and a striker, defensive midfielder and goalkeeper who got from BSS to League One. I'm pretty sure one of those centre-backs was capped by Wales aswell, one of my academy graduates in the first season

Speaking of academy graduates, I was looking back to see which had done best, and a WB/ML accrued over 70 caps for Wales still rubbish mind

[Terk]

7th after 14 games with Park Avenue, only outside the play-off zone on goal difference. Playing old school 'plant your strikers in the penalty area and bounce crosses off their heads' football and it seems to be working so far. My left flank does lack speed though, with my 34 year old winger having a pace rating of 4, but he's made to look like Theo Walcott by my 38 year old left back who gets a pace rating of 2

[Terk]

Oh, and great result, Cardio. Can't ever remember having a 'cupset' myself, so kudos

[Cerneo]

North Ferriby 12/13

Table

Graph

Season Review: Well right after the season started we had a take over and that stopped all transfers for a bit, also cleared out the debt with a loan, might have a chance to stay in the green with it, lucky for me we did not need anything other than the couple moves I made right when the window opened.

Pretty much just a continuation of last season just dominating everyone we played. We did give up more goals than I like, Ramsey does not seem like hes as good as in 09 so far think he might end up as the third choice next season if I can find a couple solid players. No one wants to sign with me right now is my main issue, to plug some holes due to injury I had to go after a couple guys my scout found in Spain randomly, so far they are just ok.

FA Cup

FA Trophy (Final)

Cup Review: Got knocked out by L1 Millwall in the first round, we did win the FAT however, I expected that since we dominated from the season opener on.

Transfers

Squad

Finances

Season        Division            Position                 Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010/11       BSN                 4th                 Lost in Playoff Finals
2011/12       BSN                 1st                        Promoted          
2012/13       BSP                 1st                 Promoted/FAT Winners

Next Season: Fix the back 4, keeper might be needed also.

[kaNovi]

The only players to have bought clubs in my game are Danny Dichio who has bought Wigan, and Thomas Helveg who bought Derby.

I've also just noticed that Chelsea and Spurs are the only top-flight teams to have expanded their stadiums so far as have Peterborough and Sheff Wed (45,000 capacity in League One ), whislst Chesterfield are the only team to have moved (and that looked pre-arranaged).

In my game Chelsea play at "Zola Park"

[SnakeXe]

In my game Chelsea play at "Zola Park"

Liverpool play at Rush Arena in mine! Chelsea's is the rather boring "Chelsea Park"

[GazTheDoood]

whislst Chesterfield are the only team to have moved (and that looked pre-arranaged).

It is, yeah.

[kaNovi]

Difficult CHL group with Barca Roma and Zenit!

Ive been noticing that more than half of the players i buy for a big amount have trouble settling?? is this also a problem you guys encounter or is it just pure misery to live near Kingston upon Thames

Another question: What would you do about Escobar Hes a great player but every 2-3 seasons he gets an injurie like this one where he is out almost all season. Would you sell him ??

[DanGLiverpool]

In my game Chelsea are also at Zola Stadium, and Hull play ay Windass Park, which I approve of Dean Windass ftw.

BTW, do Ipswich pay £1 rent a year on Portman Road in anyone elses game? Makes no sense really.

Oh yeah, just beat Crawley 7-0 in the Carling Cup, with my striker and backup striker (who played attacking midfielder in this match) both getting a hattrick. Good to see, especially as the Norway manager was there watching my main striker player.

[SnakeXe]

Difficult CHL group with Barca Roma and Zenit!

Ive been noticing that more than half of the players i buy for a big amount have trouble settling?? is this also a problem you guys encounter or is it just pure misery to live near Kingston upon Thames

Another question: What would you do about Escobar Hes a great player but every 2-3 seasons he gets an injurie like this one where he is out almost all season. Would you sell him ??

Wait until he's back from injury and offer him round for €20m or so, sell to a foreign club if possible as he'll guaranteed never get injured again and score a hattrick against you every time if he's at an English club. You'll then have €20m and €83,000 per week to spend on a replacement who plays most of your games

And about the settling, yeah a lot of players when I first sign them seem to struggle, then after 6 months to a year they're okay. However, my 23 year old world-class right back has about 7 months left on his contract and won't sign a new one because he's unsettled again

[hrbfcrule]

BTW, do Ipswich pay £1 rent a year on Portman Road in anyone elses game? Makes no sense really.

Yer ipswich pay £1/year rent on mygame as well



We certainly keep our fans entertained

going down 4-3 we equalize with an 87th min penalty and then go and win it in the 94th min when there should have been only 3 mins of added time, talk about lucky

[michaeltmurrayuk]

Difficult CHL group with Barca Roma and Zenit!

Ive been noticing that more than half of the players i buy for a big amount have trouble settling?? is this also a problem you guys encounter or is it just pure misery to live near Kingston upon Thames

Both my new left back and right back have failed to settle in Nantwich, my right back has gone back to Spain for a month but I cannot afford to lose my left back for a month

[kaNovi]

Both my new left back and right back have failed to settle in Nantwich, my right back has gone back to Spain for a month but I cannot afford to lose my left back for a month

Its so annoying.. for two straight seasons i tried to get a good MR.. but all 3 of my buys failed to settle
Ived also tried to let a player go back, but that didnt work ;/ hope it works for you!

[Terk]

13 games to go in the season, sitting 4th in the table. Only 6 points ahead of 11th place though. Dare I dream about a play-off place in the first season?

Oh, and my goalkeeper has scored 2 penalties out of 2 Twice I've forgotten to set a second choice penalty taker when my first choice hasn't been in the side and my captain has handed the ball to my keeper. Luckily he hasn't missed yet, but not sure I'm willing to keep taking that risk

[michaeltmurrayuk]

I like Brazil just picked up three Premiership potential youngsters for £1.4m each over 48 months, though two won't arrive for two years and the one that arrives in Jan will hopefully solve my problem left wing position.

At the halfway stage we are somehow third in the league with the same points as second placed Cardiff, though Wigan are walking away with the league they are 14 points clear, I've just got to hope that our form holds out in the second half of the season this time around, not that I really want promotion to the Premiership this season I'm still far too reliant loanees (mainly for squad depth now).

[michaeltmurrayuk]

Its so annoying.. for two straight seasons i tried to get a good MR.. but all 3 of my buys failed to settle
Ived also tried to let a player go back, but that didnt work ;/ hope it works for you!

I really hope they settle as they are playing very well and my left back has now attracted the attention of Premiership clubs so either way it looks like I may be losing one of them, I wonder if sending him home for January will stop the computer from buying him?

EDIT: My right back has returned and he is no longer home-sick lets hope it lasts

[mag man]

michaeltmurrayuk random question but have you always had a t in the middle of your name, just never saw it before?


I have been playing for a couple seasons but am struggling to get into it, still in the BSS with Maidstone but am not enjoying the tactic creator and dont really have time to make a classic tactic I am happy with.

[kaNovi]

This is what i call a youth product hes really getting good this guy, makes me think hard about using him or my new 20m euro signing

[michaeltmurrayuk]

michaeltmurrayuk random question but have you always had a t in the middle of your name, just never saw it before?


I have been playing for a couple seasons but am struggling to get into it, still in the BSS with Maidstone but am not enjoying the tactic creator and dont really have time to make a classic tactic I am happy with.

Yes it's always been there - at the first school I went to their was another kid with the same name as me so we had to put our middle initial on everything and I never got out of the habit of using it (which has caused various problems over the years from being told off at later schools for including my middle initial and at one job the computer system had my middle name down as my last name - which meant I had to use one code to open doors and another to log onto the tills) it just doesn't look right without the t.

With regards to the tactic creator I don't use it, I just use the normal tactics panel to position my players and select their roles and duties.

And in his first game back from Spain my rightback has just claimed man of the match and a goal in our win over MBoro so a month in Spain seems to have done him well

[Thebaker]

I like Brazil just picked up three Premiership potential youngsters for £1.4m each over 48 months, though two won't arrive for two years and the one that arrives in Jan will hopefully solve my problem left wing position.

How did you scout brazil in the championship, i can't and i have loads of great looking brazilians on my player search screen who i can't trial either.

[michaeltmurrayuk]

Man City are after my Goalkeeper, they can get lost it's taken me years to find a new keeper

[michaeltmurrayuk]

How did you scout brazil in the championship, i can't and i have loads of great looking brazilians on my player search screen who i can't trial either.

I can't I've got Luis Boa Morte as a coach and he has knowledge of Brazil so a few Brazilian players appear on my player search screen and I trial them in and try and sign or loan the good ones. You don't appear to need a work permit to arrive on trial (or to be over 18) - getting players on trial is the easy bit, it's rather silly that players will fly around the world to go on trial but if you try and loan or sign them they quite often have no interest in signing for you

[foost]

I just signed a great defender 21years with leading premiership quality... altho he was also my biggest transfer ever: 4M euro

[Thebaker]

I can't I've got Luis Boa Morte as a coach and he has knowledge of Brazil so a few Brazilian players appear on my player search screen and I trial them in and try and sign or loan the good ones. You don't appear to need a work permit to arrive on trial (or to be over 18) - getting players on trial is the easy bit, it's rather silly that players will fly around the world to go on trial but if you try and loan or sign them they quite often have no interest in signing for you

I have 2/3rds knowledge of brazil from one of my coaches which is why the players are on my search screen.

no brazilians will ever come on trial, i've tried with quite a few.

[foost]

How long does it take for an update on the youth facilities? I mean; when the board said they will do it (that it is finished)... one month? two? six? etc..

[michaeltmurrayuk]

How long does it take for an update on the youth facilities? I mean; when the board said they will do it (that it is finished)... one month? two? six? etc..

Construction only starts around the season update time, the news message that is generated when they start should tell you, it's normally about three months in my experience.

[dafuge]

I've made a rather big transfer move which could be the end of my season.

Out: Javier
In: Bowditch

It was £10m + £40m over 48 months + £40m after 30 goals. With the finances a bit touch and go I had to accept this, especially since he wanted a new challenge and looked a bit heavy on the wages even if he changed his mind. The replacement is a promising youngster, he's highly rated by my staff, they think he could be Javier/Sesma standard or better.

Chelsea have got themselves a quality player who scored on his debt (29 to go \o/), there's no doubt he'll score the winner against me one day.

[Thebaker]

just had the first decent looking youth player come through in about 10 years. listed as a promising striker chelsea have nicked him off me in aug for 1.1 million compansation as he was only on a youth contract.
next time i will have to offer a contract on the day they come through

[Rattlesnake_85]

Hi everyone.
trying to get the club logo's for the teams playable in this challenge. For those of you who have the correct logo's could you tell me where you got them or preferably post a link.

thanks

[foost]

oeff.. but 90 million is a lot of money goddamn! biggest sum I ever saw in FM

[Thebaker]

oeff.. but 90 million is a lot of money goddamn! biggest sum I ever saw in FM

paid 100 million for a 30yo striker in last years challenge.
The teams were all driving a hard bargain as every time i bid for a player the only amount the clubs would accept was 148,725,612.
an amount which was my entire transfer fund

[foost]

He got injured on his debut and was out for 12 months? ;-)

[GreyedOutMan]

Chelsea always move to Zola Park or Zola Arena on my games - they did in FM09 too...

[foost]

Yeah, Zola Park here aswell lol

[dafuge]

Zola Stadium for me.

Dalgish Park (Liverpool) is pretty good but Hughes Arena (Man City) is my favourite.

[foost]

pff i am in a dip at the moment... cant win games, lucky for me I cant lose aswell... so there it is: my fifth draw in a row

[Terk]

Zola Stadium for me.

Dalgish Park (Liverpool) is pretty good but Hughes Arena (Man City) is my favourite.

I'm desperate for a new stadium in my Liverpool save. Guess I'll have to wait for the loan debt that the club starts the game with to be paid off first though

[MikaelS]

MikaelS - Chippenham - End of Season 2 (2011/2012)

Blue Square Premier Prediction - 24th
Blue Square Premier Position - 1st
FA Cup - Lost in 3rd Round (v Middlesbrough)
FA Trophy - Winners (v Wrexham)


Blue Square Premier (1st) - League Table | League Graph

Blue Square South Summary
Completly took me by surprise. I had hoped for a mid table position but I took the lead early and never looked back.

Domestic Cups
I thought we could do a good run in the FA Cup but we went out early to Middlesbrough. We had more success in the FA Trophy where we went all the way.

Best Elevens - Overall | Season

Record Sheet - Player Records | Team Records

Manager Info
Manager Overview
Manager Profile
Manager Personal
Manager Information

Team Info
Information Overview
Information Stats
Information Facts
Information Stadium/Facilities

Other Info
Player Selection
Finances
Wages
Transfers
Affiliated Clubs
Staff

Players of the Season
Mansour Assoumani - A very solid performance in the center defence.
Davide Enrico Somma - I played him mostly on the right wing and with 20 assists, he did very well.
Guillem Bauzá - he teamed up with Johansen and provided with loads of goals.
Karsten Johansen - Star striker with 46 goals. I wondered if he could continue and he didn't fail.

Chippenham Awards
Guillem Bauzá got Fans Player of the Year
Karsten Johansen got 1st in BSP Top Goalscorer
Karsten Johansen got 1st in BSP Player of the Season
Mikael Schøler got 1st in BSP Manager of the Season
Player on BSP Team of the Season - 3

Season Summary
Very surprising indeed. I fear I have to struggle in CCL2.

Other News
New Kit sponsorship, worth 120k per annum.
Chippenham turn pro.

Game Summary

Season     League                  Position                   Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010/11    Blue Square South       1st place (105 points)     Division Champions
2011/12    Blue Square Premier     1st place (113 points)     Division Champions, FA Trophy

[Terk]

That's a massively impressive first couple of years, MikaelS Two promotions on the bounce will make it difficult next year, but with your team playing that well I'm sure you'll survive

[MikaelS]

I'm also totally amazed. I thought I would have a hard time getting the wins, but once the players settled in, they played very consistent.

I look forward to CC L2

[ChelseaDaft]

Guys I have just finished holidaying and after about 15 reloads I have TRURO CITY come up and their rep as per the first page is 600??? This can't be right!......is it?

I am taking them over!!!

[ChelseaDaft]

Here I am..Profile / Personal screens! Come on the Truro!

[michaeltmurrayuk]

I forgot how much fun January is when you actually have players - I've just spent the month fending off bids for each of the players I've just signed this season

First Fulham were after my Promising Irish Midfielder Lacey but injury ended their interests in him, next Man City attempted to poach my keeper but me asking for about £17m with various clauses put them off (just selected the highish options in the drop down menus), then Wolves tried to get my just settled right back for less than he's worth before League One Palace and struggling Leeds both attempted to poach my also now settled left back upsetting them both again

Luckily I kept hold of everyone and no-one so far has demanded a transfer, wierdly my two best players who are on fire Eikrem and Dimitrov have attracted zero interest, but that may be because the game values them at ~£3m each which is rather pricey for Championship players fortuantely.

[Aario]

Guys I have just finished holidaying and after about 15 reloads I have TRURO CITY come up and their rep as per the first page is 600??? This can't be right!......is it?

I am taking them over!!!

It might not be - I believe a few teams reputations changed a fair bit with the patches - so depends on what game version you have and (whether the first page has been updated with post patch reputations).

[SnakeXe]

I've made a rather big transfer move which could be the end of my season.

Out: Javier
In: Bowditch

It was £10m + £40m over 48 months + £40m after 30 goals. With the finances a bit touch and go I had to accept this, especially since he wanted a new challenge and looked a bit heavy on the wages even if he changed his mind. The replacement is a promising youngster, he's highly rated by my staff, they think he could be Javier/Sesma standard or better.

Chelsea have got themselves a quality player who scored on his debt (29 to go \o/), there's no doubt he'll score the winner against me one day.

Javier really did turn out to be a quality player! Absolutely incredible transfer free as well, that should sort your finances for a long while. Hopefully Maggio will turn out as good for me

Bowditch looks good, very different type of player though. Thinking of a tactics change?

[Terk]

Bradford Park Avenue
2010/11

Let me make this clear right off the bat, I suck ass at lower league management. Don't get me wrong, I love the challenge and have wasted many an hour in pursuit of success from the bottom rungs of the ladder, but from lower really that League One, I've never taken a club into the top echelons of the game. That disclaimer out of the way, it's onto the challenge.

Blue Square North
The target was to simply avoid relegation, and so in that respect we were a great success, and indeed the board currently think the sun shines out of my ass, but I'm frustrated. For so much of the season we hung around the edges of the play-off zone and I really felt we could kick on and nip into the top 5. With 6 games to go, we had a run of 3 home games on the bounce and we were outside the play-offs only on goal difference. We lost those three games and that was the end of our challenge. I'd have bitten your hand off for 10th at the start of the season, but now it seems like a bitter disappointment.

FA Cup
Well this sucked ass. We were given a target of the 4th qualifying round but exited at the 2nd in a 2-0 defeat to Farsley which could have been a lot worse.

FA Trophy
A bit better, we were expected to reach the first round and we went out in the 2nd having won a replay against Blue Square Premier side Altrincham; we really should have won the initial tie, but conceded a very late goal (the story of our season).

Transfers
All freebies and loans, and the two that stand out as real good pieces of business were Justin Gentle from Stafford (who topped our assist chart) and Tesfaye Bramble from Leiston (who was our top scorer). Given our financial position, I'm expecting the wage budget to go down next season so this part of the game will be even harder.


Key Players

Amjad Iqbal
Despite having a tackling rating of only '3', Amjad did a solid job for us in defence and led the side well as captain. Has been offered a contract extension, though I'm pretty certain that the BSN is the limit of his talent.

Justin Gentle
I'd like to claim credit for his signing, but it was already arranged when I joined the club. He may be one of the slowest wingers I've come across, but his crossing was accurate and key to the way we played the game. A good season, but I'm not sure if he has another one in his legs.

Richard Jackson
Plenty of experience of league football, Richard was our first choice right back all season and did a very good job. Didn't get beaten by opposition wingers very often and I'm hoping to get another year out of him yet.

Tesfaye Bramble
A player I took entirely on my new scout's recommendation, Tesfaye ended up as our top scorer, so a good spot he turned out to be. We basically planted him just outside the six yard box in each game and got Justin Gentle to bounce crosses off his head, but it proved to be an effective combination. A similar year next season would be nice.


Career Overview

Season              League               Final Pos.           Achievements
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010/11       Blue Square North            10th                    -

2011/12
A younger, fitter, faster squad would be a start. We have too many players the wrong side of 35, let alone 30 and we must be the slowest group I've ever seen. Fitness also became more and more of a problem as the season went on as we lost at least 10 points by conceding goals in the final five minutes. Hopefully this can be rectified for next season, but given that the club is now almost £200,000 in the red, I don't hold out much hope of even being able to strengthen my squad with free transfers.

[michaeltmurrayuk]

And with 35 games gone Nantwich are nice and safe from relegation so we can now collapse without me getting too worried.

[hrbfcrule]

Unlucky Terk,you should be able to get promotion next season, at the start you do have to get rid of a lot of deadwood that the club starts with.

I am generally quite ruthless with my players and try and get a whole new squad in every time i get promoted.

[Dons2387]

Well, after multiple tries, including most recently as Ashton United (On account Rob2387), i've started again because of a virus that wiped out my computer. Game is so much quicker on windows 7. Here I am

[dafuge]

Javier really did turn out to be a quality player! Absolutely incredible transfer free as well, that should sort your finances for a long while. Hopefully Maggio will turn out as good for me

Bowditch looks good, very different type of player though. Thinking of a tactics change?

I like to play with an advance forward who acts as a target man who runs on to balls, I think Bowditch may suit this.

[dafuge]

Guys I have just finished holidaying and after about 15 reloads I have TRURO CITY come up and their rep as per the first page is 600??? This can't be right!......is it?

I am taking them over!!!

That's my fault, I've forgotten to update the OP with the updated reputations that came with the 10.2 patch.

[kaNovi]

Despite playing rather good football the PL title are not possible because of Liverpool suddenly playing alot better and is far ahead. Another problem is that we are not doing well keeping our leads an we often let a goal pass, its so frustrating!
So im focusing on CHL. Im in the first knockout round against Galatasaray where i drew 2-2 away. And im meeting Ajax or Valencia in the quarters if i get that far.

[foost]

How is Ajax in your game? Good youngsters I guess?

[kaNovi]

I beat Gala 4-1 and i met Valencia away an came out with a historic result 0-3

Ajax has a couple of decent players but they havent won anything in my safe. They were runner up in the Euro cup in 2025 tho

[dlnwba86]

Don't you just love this game!!!

In my second season with King's Lynn in League 2 and things started okay, 2 wins from the first 3 games, but then..... a rather shocking run of 11 defeats and 2 draws in 13 league games scoring 6 goals and conceding 23. Down in 23rd place thanks to Tranmere's 10 point deduction for goin into adminstration.

In a final roll of the dice before giving up i revert to an old tactic i haven't used in a few seasons and low and behold we grab only our 3rd win of the season, AWAY to top of the table Millwall, 2-1. Delighted, hopefully now we can press on!

[hrbfcrule]

Sutton Utd L2 2012/13

Competitions:

Fa Cup: Lost in 4th round 2-0 to blackburn
JPT: lost in 2nd round to Charlton 2-1
League Cup: lost in 1st round to swindon 3-1
League: 3rd in L2 Promotion

League Table, League Graph
Squad, Transfers

A very good season in all areas, we gained promotion from lge 2 quite comfortably. We were top for most of the 1st half of the season but we lost our form a bit and dropped down to third. despite grabbing promotion with 2 games to spare the title was up for grabs between us stockport and bristol rovers. unfortunately we couldnt make our 2 home matches count and drew 3-3 and 2-2.

The 1 thing i would criticise is our inability to see games out, we continously threw away 2 goal leads and that cost us the lge 1 title as the last 2 games were both drawn from us being 3-1 and 2-0 up respectively

Player of the season - Igor

Available on a free at the start of the season, Scouts rated him as good championship player. To be honest i didnt expect to get him but his wage demands were within Sutton's boundaries so i went for it. He almost single handedly dragged us to promotion with 32 goals 17 assists and 11 MoM and an average rating of 7.31.


Cups:

The fa cup was eventful for us, we scored 15 goals in the fa cup, 4-0 vs stalybridge, 3-1 vs oxford then an 8-0 thumping of lge 1 Gillingham (which igor didnt score any despite playing ) we eventually were outclassed by blackburn in the 4th round.
Lge cup and jpt were less eventful with us going out pretty early on in both against higher lge opposition.

Finances

We finally made profit in a season

Helped by the fa cup run and by getting rid of some of the high earners from last season and replacing them with young, less expensive and high potential players.

Career so far:
 
 
Season    League                   Position    Achievements
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
2010/11   Blue Square South        2nd         Promoted via playoffs
2011/12   Blue Square Premier      1st          Automatic Promotion 
2012/13   League 2                     3rd         Automatic Promotion

I am also on the favoured personnel list

[foost]

lol @ Igor having 50 youth caps!

[roseboy64]

First season in the Prem with Boston Utd and currently sitting 3rd/4th(Can't remember) but only a point off Chelsea in first. It's mid-December now and my stadium upgrade's soon to be finished and I'll play aforementioned Chelsea right after. Will be nice to get some more money in from tickets.

So played around 15/16 games in the league. Should be safe by February the latest. Knocked van Basten managed Man Utd out of the CC by holidaying and allowing my AM to do what he wanted. Apparently same formation but he made us play dirty. Got a cheeky 1-0 win though. So on to the Semis against West Ham who're struggling in 15th in the league. Playing Championship Swansea in the FA Cup 3rd round.

First XI currently:

Alan Gordon(regen)

Alan Hutton-Micheal Parkhurst-Alexandre Gois/ Nestor Lopez(both regens IIRC) - Ashley Cole (c)

Paulo Tavares (regen)

Vadis Odjija
Marco Paz(regen/vc) - Olivares(regen)

Victor Anichebe - Michael Eneramo

It's really a 4-1-3-2 formation which plays as 4-1-1-2-2. Thinking I'll push the CM up to an AM and push the wingers back making it a diamond.

Have a youngster in place to replace Hutton. Almunia as my backup goalie. Gordon's only 20 but don't fancy he'll be any more than decent at this level so plan to search for cheap young goalies who'll be awesome and make Almunia just there as an experienced head and make the two youngsters battle it out for the number 1. No youngster in sight for me to replace Cole as my backup is Kamel Musa who's just a year younger than the 34yo skipper. Fancy getting in Joe Mattock to replace. CBs seem sorted for the future as both Gois and Lopez are in their low 20s. Parkhurst is 31. Have another young CB who's out on loan but he only looks like he'll be decent Prem.

Central mid seems sorted for now as Paz is really an attacking central mid. Tavares is young also and I have a cheap Spanish regen out on loan who is supposed to be good in the future. Odjija can play all the CM roles so he'll be staying. Paz will be pushed into his spot though and he'll serve as backup. Tavares to keep his spot with the youngster getting the odd appearance when he's back with maybe another loan or two. Have Aaron Mokoena and Jose Semedo as well. Mokoena couldn't be moved on as no one would take him so he's still here. Semedo is a decent experienced backup ATM. Mokoena served me well as captain in the Championship last season though.

Paz is my best available right mid and as I'll be looking for him to be in the centre I'll need an established right mid next season. Have two youngsters there though. One promising for Prem and the other who I don't think will handle the big league so gonna ship him on soon. Tomi Petrescu still decent enough for me and provides cover at left mid for Olivares. Fancy getting in someone like Clint Dempsey as a rotation player and also a starting right mid.

Strikers are Anichebe, Eneramo, Javier Acuna, and Matty Fryatt. The latter two were my starters in the Championship and I'll be looking to move on one or both. Have a youngster who'll decided whether I ship both out or just one, as it'll be whether I loan him out or not that decides. Shall be looking to get in a star striker though as while Anichebe and Eneramo are good, I want someone who'll now or in the near future be world class with Gutierrez getting experience as part of a 4 striker outfit.

So that's a striker, leftback, right mid and possibly goalie to be getting in after this season. Just remembered now I have a young leftback coming in but he'll be no more than a squad player in the future for me really. 'Mon the Pilgrims. Not sure I want CL fooy next season though. Europa League much better proposition but won't deliberately ruin our form. Would be an awesome thing for a club who at the start of the game weren't in the BSN at the start of the game to be in the CL in the 2016/2017 season. Oh and the 48 month deals don't seem to be hampering the club as I'm making at least 500k profit each month. TV money IMO but still in the red about 11 mil so no transfers in for me in January as I'm about 10k above my wage budget and spent all my 20m transfer budget after guaranteeing a top half finish.

[roseboy64]

Unlucky Terk,you should be able to get promotion next season, at the start you do have to get rid of a lot of deadwood that the club starts with.

I am generally quite ruthless with my players and try and get a whole new squad in every time i get promoted.

Same for me. Given me an awful player loyalty stat though. My financial control stat buggered also but will look to get those up in the future after establishing us in the Prem for a few seasons.

[roseboy64]

lol @ Igor having 50 youth caps!

Suprisingly good record for someone with such stats but guess with Brazil he'll get plenty chances to score.

[Terk]

Congratulations on the season, hrbfcrule I'm not surprised that you're on the favoured personnel list with three straight promotions.

[SnakeXe]

Same for me. Given me an awful player loyalty stat though. My financial control stat buggered also but will look to get those up in the future after establishing us in the Prem for a few seasons.

I have 20s for Loyalty, Hands on Approach, Squad Discipline, and Tactical Consistency, but 1 for Domestic Player Bias and 3 for Financial Control

That's what you get for managing a Welsh team in the English leagues with a teeny tiny stadium!

One of my academy graduates is labelled the next Hargreaves - hopefully that's the solid midfielder part rather than the 24 months on the sidelines part! He's getting a lot of first team action, so hopefully he'll become my first home-produced wonderkid

I'm also refusing to cap him for England so I can nab him when the Welsh job arises

[roseboy64]

Needs to learn to play RB then.


Oh and forgot to mention I was offered the Fulham job afer Paul Jewell got sacked.

[GreyedOutMan]

24 games into the 42-game BSS season, and already I have more points than last year! Promotion push is on though after 14 games without losing I rather fear a dip is around the corner. We'll see. This team has totally transformed this year! The board is very concerned about losing me at the end of my contract in June. Will try to get them to offer me a huge new contract I guess!!

[hrbfcrule]

lol @ Igor having 50 youth caps!

hahaha i didnt notice that before

Same for me. Given me an awful player loyalty stat though. My financial control stat buggered also but will look to get those up in the future after establishing us in the Prem for a few seasons.

thats my plan as well, i just try to get into the prem as quickly as possible then you can stay there for a while and rake in the tv money etc

Congratulations on the season, hrbfcrule I'm not surprised that you're on the favoured personnel list with three straight promotions.

thanks, ive never been on a clubs favoured personnel list before despite getting hampton and richmond all the way to the premiership on 1 save

[Terk]

Just fired up my save to get through pre-season and I had my three top transfers targets all lined up and offered contracts that slightly exceeded their demands. Feeling quite good about the squad I'm assembling, then all three go and sign for other teams in the BSN, leaving me high and dry with only utter dross left for me in my scout's report.

[GreyedOutMan]

What a shame... If we could have kept that up for a while longer, even automatic promotion could have been on the cards. Hopefully we can go on another run now. We already have six points more than the whole of last season, with 16 games still to go.

[kaNovi]

In my CHL Semis i meet liverpool. First leg away at Rush arena ended 0-0 and im playing the second leg RIGHT NOW! Escobar made a brilliant lob over the keeper just before the break 1-0 Kingstonian! But with my luck im not to optimistic

We did it! 1-0 and Kingstonian are in the CHL FINALS! and well deserved as well

Man City in the final. Its time for my revenge !!

[SnakeXe]

In my CHL Semis i meet liverpool. First leg away at Rush arena ended 0-0 and im playing the second leg RIGHT NOW! Escobar made a brilliant lob over the keeper just before the break 1-0 Kingstonian! But with my luck im not to optimistic

We did it! 1-0 and Kingstonian are in the CHL FINALS! and well deserved as well

Man City in the final. Its time for my revenge !!

Good luck mate! You made a decision on Escobar's future yet?

[GreyedOutMan]

After 15 league games without defeat...

Probably puts our challenge for automatic promotion beyond us and we will need to get some form back to get into the playoffs, too.

[ChelseaDaft]

That's my fault, I've forgotten to update the OP with the updated reputations that came with the 10.2 patch.

Dafuge

Do you know what it is, because even though I have unticked add key staff, Truro have a full set of staff, pay high wages and have a transfer budget.. so doesn't feel right to start with this lot!

[Goskii]

hrbfcrule who did you sign igor off in your save! looks a good player!

[dafuge]

Dafuge

Do you know what it is, because even though I have unticked add key staff, Truro have a full set of staff, pay high wages and have a transfer budget.. so doesn't feel right to start with this lot!

Not off the top of my head, but I have a feeling it is over 1000.

I'll get the list updated.

[ChelseaDaft]

I also had Eastwood come up and they aren't on the list... maybe 10.2 has had quite a revamp. I have to say I am not comfortable with the Truro thing.. so will reload....

[dafuge]

I also had Eastwood come up and they aren't on the list... maybe 10.2 has had quite a revamp. I have to say I am not comfortable with the Truro thing.. so will reload....

I've updated it now.

Truro was 1250, so they are a relatively big club. Eastwood are already in the BSN, so they are ineligible.

[Crispypaul]

Lost in the League Two playoff final last night to Southend

I'll post a full update after work tonight.

[ChelseaDaft]

I've updated it now.

Truro was 1250, so they are a relatively big club. Eastwood are already in the BSN, so they are ineligible.

Cool, thanks. Eastwood had no badge or anything which is why I thought they were newly promoted.

Thanks for confirming about Truro, just as I thought. I will reload and select someone else tonight.

[Rattlesnake_85]

Well here I am again to have another shot at this challenge. Was going to wait until 10.3 but can't wait any longer and just want to get playing so 10.2 it is. I picked one of the easier teams for this challenge which will hopefully help me to climb the divisions quicker and therefore maintain interest. Going to make it my FM new years resolution to finish this challenge for the first time. Lets hope it lasts longer than most resolutions.

Anyway here's my PROFILE, Say Hello to the new manager at Dartford.

[GreyedOutMan]

Wait for 10.3? What made you think there would even be a 10.3, let alone that it would be out soon? The game seems really stable to me compared to some previous incarnations...

[hrbfcrule]

Wigan are in league 1 already

1st season - 18th in premiership
2nd season - 3rd in championship
3rd season - 6th in championship
4th season - 22nd in championship


So im gonna play wigan in lge 1 this season and its only 2013

[dafuge]

Wait for 10.3? What made you think there would even be a 10.3, let alone that it would be out soon? The game seems really stable to me compared to some previous incarnations...

Although I've not heard anything since, I'm sure Miles said in GD that there was going to be a patch after the January transfer window (10.3).

Here it is: FM2010 patching strategy

[GreyedOutMan]

I got the impression that would just be a data update....or is that what he meant perhaps?

[hrbfcrule]

hrbfcrule who did you sign igor off in your save! looks a good player!

igor's player history

[DanGLiverpool]

Nice, going to the 5th round of the FA cup for the second year in a row, this time to Old Trafford and 11th place Man United. Lets do what Leeds did in real life, and beat them, when I do play them obviously

[SnakeXe]

I got the impression that would just be a data update....or is that what he meant perhaps?

It'll be the update after all the january transfers have gone through, and there's apparently an issue with the centre-backs being split too easily which results in a lot of through balls between the two which doesn't occur very often at all IRL. But I do agree, 10.2 is excellent

[Goskii]

igor's player history

very nice signing, bit of a coup

[foost]

Mwa, first he got to show himself in League One

[Almondo]

Boston united season 1 2010/11


League Table After winning the first game if the season we went on a torrid run of not winning in 8 games. After a change in tactics and a couple of good loan players (see below) we managed to turn the season around finally finishing in 7th in the league.

Fixtures 1, Fixtures 2

Transfers

Key Players

Nathan Adams Got Adams in on loan from Lincoln City. Making an instant impact withn the first team. Along with Sam Habergham

Sam Habergham. Brought in on loan from Norwich City. My first choice Left back all season.

Jack Compton. My star left winger scoring 10 goals throughout the season.


F.A. Cup Slightly disappointing here as we were expected to make the 4th Qualifying round but were put out by Bishop's Stortford in the 3rd.

F.A. Trophy Got through to the 1st round of the Trophy which was what the board wanted so I at least made that expectation.

Finances

Season           League              Final Position               Achievments
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2010/11       Blue Square North          7th                         none

Aims for next season

Build on the work done this season.
Strengthen the squad. - I've started to work on this by signing Craig McAllister after the season ended.

[Rattlesnake_85]

I wasn't having a dig at 10.2 in fact I think its the best version of the game since Fm 07 and I am enjoying it alot. The only reason I brought up 10.3 was because most years Si release a patch end of Jan/ Feb with a data update and a few fixes. The only reason I was going to wait until then would have been to benefit from the data update and not because I thought there was something wrong with 10.2
Didn't mean to sound like I was having a go or anything.

[GreyedOutMan]

No i realised that Im just not sure if they will release 10.3 at all this year - there will be a data update, sure, but I think that's all they need.

[GreyedOutMan]

By the way, Phil Parkin, who was a first-year regen last year when he was my player of the season, is about to break the appearance record for Hastings Utd already!!

[dafuge]

I wasn't having a dig at 10.2 in fact I think its the best version of the game since Fm 07 and I am enjoying it alot. The only reason I brought up 10.3 was because most years Si release a patch end of Jan/ Feb with a data update and a few fixes. The only reason I was going to wait until then would have been to benefit from the data update and not because I thought there was something wrong with 10.2
Didn't mean to sound like I was having a go or anything.

I often start a new game with the final patch, for that very reason

I don't think I will this year though, I've been playing the same game since day one and have not experienced any real problems that need fixing. I'm going to keep going.

[dafuge]

I've just noticed that Chelsea's finances are described as 'okay'. Mine are the same and I'm £7m in debt.

Considering they are paying me £825k a month, will the £40m put them in trouble if Javier scores another 27 goals?

[Goskii]

must say im quite jealous/envious dafuge!

[Terk]

I'd really appreciate it if my goalkeeper could even come close to saving anything from outside of the penalty area. Seriously, if any shot from outside the box is on target it's a guaranteed goal

[dafuge]

must say im quite jealous/envious dafuge!

Putting Chelsea in financial trouble is quite a nice position to be in

I should add that Abramovic left about five years ago.

[GreyedOutMan]

Getting very excited about my youngster Phil Parkin. He's a fantastic player, probably has the potential to play in the Premiership eventually. He's currently got just over 2 years left on his contract and I've just offered him a 3-year extension and a pay rise in return for becoming a full timer. Should be able to get a few of those years out of him before selling him on for a massive sum to guarantee the financial stability of the club for some time....

EDT: He signed! He's now mine until 2017, and on a full time contract. Awesome!

[dafuge]

I'd really appreciate it if my goalkeeper could even come close to saving anything from outside of the penalty area. Seriously, if any shot from outside the box is on target it's a guaranteed goal

Welcome to the lower leagues

[Terk]

Welcome to the lower leagues

Makes it all the more rewarding if success is achieved, I guess

[mocko666]

Dafuge I was just wondering are you 7 million in the red or 7 million in debts to be paid of monthly. Because if you are 7 million pounds in the red then you really needed that Javier sale to help out your finances becuase they must have been seriously low before the initial 10 million pounds came in.

Also this must be the worst thing ever to say about a player for another club, but for your sake you really need him to score 27 more goals for them. Wouldn't it be great if after his 30th goal they go into administration and you managed to get Javier back a whole lot cheaper.