Is this *mission impossible*?

[FMFantastic]

Im in year 2022, manchester united has been relegated 3 years ago after years of struggle in midtable because they sold key players one by one due to enormous debt, i dont even need to mention when they got relegated they were forced to sell even the most average player. looking at the club now is filled with poor players, even if i was to take over now and get them promoted it will be a huge struggle to fight against relegation, saddening. but they struggled since sir alex left. maybe i am seeing the future on FM? ;-/


I took my current club as far as i can, 6 years of straight title wins after building such a great squad filled with superstars.

I want a new challenge, and looking at ManU but it looks like mission impossible, i dont mind fighting against relegation and building the team from step 1 like Sam did to Bolton for example, but i am scared off by their loan debt being in 900+m!!!! i am worried how i can go against this...... any ideas??

I want to make ManU a force again ;-) but the debt worries me... do you think is mission impossible???

[FMFantastic]

Im in year 2022, manchester united has been relegated 3 years ago after years of struggle in midtable because they sold key players one by one due to enormous debt, i dont even need to mention when they got relegated they were forced to sell even the most average player. looking at the club now is filled with poor players, even if i was to take over now and get them promoted it will be a huge struggle to fight against relegation, saddening. but they struggled since sir alex left. maybe i am seeing the future on FM? ;-/


I took my current club as far as i can, 6 years of straight title wins after building such a great squad filled with superstars.

I want a new challenge, and looking at ManU but it looks like mission impossible, i dont mind fighting against relegation and building the team from step 1 like Sam did to Bolton for example, but i am scared off by their loan debt being in 900+m!!!! i am worried how i can go against this...... any ideas??

I want to make ManU a force again ;-) but the debt worries me... do you think is mission impossible???

[FMFantastic]

btw their attendance rates didnt drop at all, but obviously their revenue dropped significantly from season tickets etc. who wants to watch a championship team paying large amounts >_<

[Oktober]

Could be good fun and a good challenge. The massive debt will add an entire new dimension to how you approach it, and the required turnaround on good players to keep the administrators away would really prove that youre as good as you think.

[chronic187]

I use fmm to update their money situation every summer so they dfon't fall into that much debt,

It's so unrealistic the way on everyones game they go into administration etc and become crap.

do what i do and use the modifyer to make the game more realistic

(i'm a Liverpool Supporter by the way)

[Rickooko]

How could they get into 900m+ debt?

[Klimowicz]

i heard they will publish a record profit of £250M this week on SSN earlier today. man utd will always appeal to the foriegn market, and i feel they will never collapse like they do in this game.

btw i'm in jan 2010 and liverpool are 17th (their highest all season). just waiting for rafa to get the boot and i'll be in from the emirates to save our arch rivals

[Law_Man]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Klimowicz:
i heard they will publish a record profit of £250M this week on SSN earlier today. man utd will always appeal to the foriegn market, and i feel they will never collapse like they do in this game.

btw i'm in jan 2010 and liverpool are 17th (their highest all season). just waiting for rafa to get the boot and i'll be in from the emirates to save our arch rivals </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I think you mean turnover not profit.

[FMFantastic]

Rickooko - have a look at the club at start of game 1b+ debt, is because the american owners who took over bought it on loan, i dont know the exact details but is because of the new chairman.



Klimowicz - lol, theres a BIG HUGE difference between profit and turnover ;-)

[Klimowicz]

yeah, my bad

[Neji]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content"> maybe i am seeing the future on FM? ;-/ </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I hope so

Take over, it would be a good challenge. You just have to approach it VERY carefully in terms of wages. I mean keeping WELL under the wage budget probably and you may have to become a bit of a selling club so scouting good players is a must. I think it will be a good challenge

[Nomis07]

Definately take it, a lot of people have posted about this and I can't wait for it to happen in my game. The chance to become Fergie-esque and make them glorious again is too good to refuse.

[Fitzer2007]

I agree, thats sounds like a great challenge.

I hope it happens in my game, I'm on the brink of greatness with Birmingham but looking forward to United being in a similar postion.

[FrazT]

Its a great challenge, so go for it!

[lukekarts]

I would definitely go for the job as it looks like a good challenge.

By the way, with regards to debts, do clubs go into administration in this game and have their debt cleared / get bought out and have money injected? I've not seen in happen yet but I've only really played as rich teams (or I've made them rich).

[Gypsum]

Wouldn't the Man Utd youth system still be in place even after that collapse? Or does it suffer because of this?

[Nomis07]

Clubs can go into administration but i've never seen them deducted points. A new buyer and chairman comes in and gives new money to spend although usually not much.

The youth system of UTD would still be in place because they have top youth setup and training facilities, these cannot be reduced or deteriorate.

[EddieGray11]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by FMFantastic:
but they struggled since sir alex left. maybe i am seeing the future on FM? ;-/
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I ****ing hope so!

[Oz]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by chronic187:
I use fmm to update their money situation every summer so they dfon't fall into that much debt,

It's so unrealistic the way on everyones game they go into administration etc and become crap.

do what i do and use the modifyer to make the game more realistic

(i'm a Liverpool Supporter by the way) </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Its not unrealistic at all. One or two bad seasons of failing to qualify for the CL, and not winning anything, will mean they would have to sell their best players to be able to meet their loan payments. It could all go downhill from there.

Its a risk the Glazers took, and if it goes wrong, the club will take the hit, not them.

[GAVIN42]

yes but the fact is at this moment in time and the forseeable future (ak 10 years) Man Utd are not going to fail to qualify in the Champions League...

[Gypsum]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Nomis07:
The youth system of UTD would still be in place because they have top youth setup and training facilities, these cannot be reduced or deteriorate. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's what I would have thought.

Could be interesting then. Getting Man Utd back to the top by using their youth system and a few free transfers. I suppose you wouldn't have a problem getting some older stars to come to the club with its reputation. But holding on to any good youngsters could be a problem if offers start coming in.

[Nomis07]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by GAVIN42:
yes but the fact is at this moment in time and the forseeable future (ak 10 years) Man Utd are not going to fail to qualify in the Champions League... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's not strictly true (although I do hope it's the case).

The Glazer's thing is a common misconception as people seem to have this image of Leeds in their minds and what happened to them when they missed out on the Champions League.

The difference is that UTD are a global marketing pr machine and whilst one season would dent them considerably it would never have the impact that occurred at Leeds. 70k seats filled 50 times a season at £40 a pop, shirt sales all over the world, the Manchester UTD logo etc etc would constantly pay the loan and this has been demonstrated as winning only the Premier League last season and further rounds of CL accounted for a record turnover, loan et al.

[Amaroq]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Gypsum:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Nomis07:
The youth system of UTD would still be in place because they have top youth setup and training facilities, these cannot be reduced or deteriorate. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's what I would have thought.

Could be interesting then. Getting Man Utd back to the top by using their youth system and a few free transfers. I suppose you wouldn't have a problem getting some older stars to come to the club with its reputation. But holding on to any good youngsters could be a problem if offers start coming in. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>


Honestly, it sounds like one of the most fun challenges I've heard of in years.

You might build up a huge following if you posted your save game to some file-share somewhere and posted "Win the C.L. with Man U... starting with this save game," to one of the challenge threads.

Personally, I'd be very interested to hear your progress, if you do take over: I'm very interested to know what the board expect of you.

If you decide to go for it, and keep us posted, please give us the board's short-term and long-term expectations each season, plus an annual snapshot of the financial situation.

Looking forward to hearing about it!

[Amaroq]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Amaroq:
.. and posted "Win the C.L. with Man U... starting with this save game," to <STRIKE>one of the challenge threads</STRIKE> [B]the challenge forum. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
Corrected for precision; I so wish I could edit!

[Marshdweller]

Why do you want to restore them to their former glories? It would be much more satisfying to see how low they could sink, and then take them over and see if you could do any more damage to them.

Not that I dislike them or anything....

[Howie]

That sounds like a quality challenge, well worth it.

[Oktober]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Nomis07:
Clubs can go into administration but i've never seen them deducted points. A new buyer and chairman comes in and gives new money to spend although usually not much.

The youth system of UTD would still be in place because they have top youth setup and training facilities, these cannot be reduced or deteriorate. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

In mine, they were deducted points in 2019 for going into administration, and one of the Glazers on the board then took over. They barely escaped relegation the season after (when my Merthyr Tydfil team came up), and were eventually then taken over again by a different board member who finally cleared most of their debt. Feb 2023 they're Rich again with only £39m loan outstanding but are 19th and looking very, very lost.

For about 6 or 7 seasons now theyve barely scraped out of relegation, last year by a single point after winning on the final day. Theres 4 points in it now, knowing their luck they'll probably escape AGAIN.

Incidentally, Portsmouth went bankrupt in the Championship and completely shut down all of their youth academies, they had "no youth facilities" for two seasons until they were Premiership again. They're still only minimal.

[vanpersie11]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Nomis07:
The youth system of UTD would still be in place because they have top youth setup and training facilities, these cannot be reduced or deteriorate. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Surely the stadium and training facilites would deteriorate after time if the club doesn't have to maintain them properly?

[vanpersie11]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by vanpersie11:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Nomis07:
The youth system of UTD would still be in place because they have top youth setup and training facilities, these cannot be reduced or deteriorate. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Surely the stadium and training facilites would deteriorate after time if the club doesn't have the money to maintain them properly? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Woops!

[Oktober]

As I just said, youth facilities can be shut down for definate, as happened to Portsmouth, and I know in past versions of the game the stadium's capacity was gradually reduced too. I think that might have been removed though after the debacle with Queen's Park and Hampden.

[FMFantastic]

ok guys season ended, so i decided to go ahead with this challenge. i want to add the quality of the players is really poor, poorer than most teams in championship and it will be a huge struggle just to get promoted and fight against relegation...

Financially, i decided to become very shrewd...

1) i wont spend anything over US$5m for any player, most likely options will be upcoming regens.

2) i will bring in dozen or so youngsters with great potential so they will be ready in 3-4 seasons, i might not be able to hold onto them but i should at least half and would be able to quality for europe


their min. expectation this season is to win the championship, long term they expect me to quality for european champions league in 4 seasons (unrealistic at this stage)


Will keep you updated....

;-)

[FMFantastic]

**fingers crossed** i hope they dont fire me after 6 months or something... lol

only reason i was able to transform my current team was because the chairman gave me full backing and never harrassed me or intefered in my management also most importantly gave me time even when i wasnt meeting expectations initially... im bit like jose that i dont want any board intervention ;-/

[Amaroq]

Good luck!!

[Amaroq]

I do figure "Getting sufficient patience from the board to have time to turn it around" is the problem here .. that's why I'm so interested in your board's targets.

Do they recognize the magnitude of your task, or do they still think you should be winning the Premiership every year?

[BobbaW]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Law_Man:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Klimowicz:
i heard they will publish a record profit of £250M this week on SSN earlier today. man utd will always appeal to the foriegn market, and i feel they will never collapse like they do in this game.

btw i'm in jan 2010 and liverpool are 17th (their highest all season). just waiting for rafa to get the boot and i'll be in from the emirates to save our arch rivals </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I think you mean turnover not profit. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

As I read it they've posted a turnover of £250mil (approx) and a recored profit for an English club (not £250mil obviously).

[ross8]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Marshdweller:
Why do you want to restore them to their former glories? It would be much more satisfying to see how low they could sink, and then take them over and see if you could do any more damage to them.

Not that I dislike them or anything.... </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

[Harv88]

its going to be a HUGE challenge, any chance of you making the game save available?