FM11 - Leeds United FC Thread - "We're not famous any more!"

Introduction & history

Leeds United are a professional association football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. At the start of the 2010/11 season they play in the npower Championship, the 2nd tier of English club football.

The club was formed following the disbanding by the Football League of Leeds City in 1919 due to "financial irregularities", the previous club having been in existence since 1904. Leed United have competed at the top level of English football for the majority of their existence, and enjoyed their most successful period during the 1960s and 1970s when, under the management of Don Revie, they won 2 First Division titles (finishing as runners up on a further 5 occasions), along with an FA Cup, League Cup and 2 Inter-Cities Fairs Cups.

Following Don Revie's departure to manage England in 1974, the Club had a succession of different managers (including, infamously, Brian Clough for 44 days) but were never able to maintain the level of success achieved under Revie, although they did reach the final of the European Cup - only the second English team to do so - in 1975. Despite this achievement, the club were entering a period of decline and were eventually relegated to the Second Division in 1982. They remained there until 1990 when, under the management of Howard Wilkinson, and with Gordon Strachan as Club Captain, they achieved promotion back to the First Division, and only 2 years later were First Division champions again for the 3rd time in their history - the last Champions of England before the establishment of the Premier League in 1992.

During the 1990s and early 2000s Leeds remained a competitive team in the Premier League, challenging for places in Europe, and reaching the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Champions League in consecutive seasons. However, after severe financial difficulties and a mass sale of players, Leeds were relegated from the Premier League in 2004. They spent 3 seasons in the Championship, including reaching the play off final in 2006, only to be relegated from the Championship to League 1 in 2007 - the first time in their history that they had been in the 3rd tier of English football.

The club went in to adminstration on 4 May 2007, only days after their relegation to League 1 was finally confirmed - incurring a 10 point penalty for the 2006/07 season and a further 15 point penalty for the 2007/08 season following a Football League ruling that League rules in respect of adminstration had not been correctly followed by the club.

The club then spent 3 years in League 1, with defeat in the League 1 playoffs preventing promotion back to the Championship for 2 consecutive seasons, before they finally gained automatic promotion back to the Championship by securing a runners up spot to Norwich City on the final day of the 2009/10 season.

Despite their fall from the top tier of English football in recent years, Leeds United remain one of the best supported English teams outside of the Premier League, and consistently sell all available tickets for away games wherever they go. Leeds itself is the largest city in England to host only one professional football league team.

Current kits

Club Information

Legends: Don Revie, John Charles, Billy Brember, Lucas Radebe

Icons: Eddie Gray, Gordon Strachan, David Batty, Peter Lorimor, Nigel Martyn, Howard Wilkinson, Gary McAllister

Rivals: Man Utd, Chelsea, Galatasary, Millwall, Cardiff, Sheffield United, Bradford City

Club Honours

English First Division - Winners 1969, 1974, 1992; Runners up 1965, 1966, 1970, 1971, 1972

FA Cup - Winners 1972; Runners up 1965, 1970, 1973

English League Cup - Winners 1968; Runners up 1996

English Community Shield - Winners 1969, 1992; Runners up 1974

European Champions Cup - Runners up 1975

European Cup Winners Cup - Runners up 1973

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup - Winners 1968, 1971; Runners up 1967

Club Facilities

Leeds United's home ground is Elland Road which, at an official capacity of 39,460, is the largest ground in the npower Championship and the 2nd biggest English football league ground outside of the Premier League (behind Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough stadium.)

The club boast top training facilities at the purpose built Thorp Arch training ground, have adequate youth facilities and a Youth Academy which is able to attract above average levels of youth recruitment.

The club have also recently opened the Centerary Pavilion, a magnificent building which stands opposite the East Stand at Elland Road and provides one of the largest conference facilities in the North of England!!

(Beautiful, isn't it?!)

Start of Season Expectations

Squad Overview

Leeds United have retained most of their League 1 promotion winning squad squad - with the notable exception being Jermaine Beckford, the club's leading scorer in League 1, who joined Everton on a free transfer during the summer of 2010. The club were fairly active over the summer 2010 transfer window and were able to bring in 12 new players in preparation for the 2010/11 npower Championship campaign.

This means that at the start of the 2010/11 season, Leeds United could field an entire team made up of new signings - but while most of these new signings have previous experience at Championship level, almost all were free transfers with very little money being invested in new players.

The highest profile new signings were probably keeper Kasper Schmeichel, who joined on a free transfer from Notts County, and striker Ross McCormack, who joined from Cardiff for an undisclosed fee thought to be in the region of £300,000.

Goalkeepers: Kasper Schmeichel, Shane Higgs, Alan Martin (Out on loan)

The goalkeeping position is one of the strengths of the Leeds United squad. Kasper Schmeichel, son of legendary Danish keeper Peter Schmeichel, joined the club from Notts County in the summer of 2010 and is rated as one of the best young goalkeepers in the League. Shane Higgs provides adequate back up.

Fullbacks: Federico Bessone, Paul Connolly, Ben Parker, Jason Crowe,

Bessone and Connolly are recent additions to the squad (both on free transfers, from Swansea and Derby) and have decent experience in the Championship but are no more than average quality at this level. Parker and Crowe are suffering long term injuries, and as a result back-up for both full back positions is initially provided by Aiden White and Andy Hughes, who are listed below as wide midfielders as neither are natural full backs.

Centrebacks: Patrick Kisnorbo, Neill Collins, Alex Bruce, Leigh Bromby, Richard Naylor(club captain), Lubor Michalik (Out on loan)

Kisnorbo, the best CB at the club, is another player out with a long term injury. Collins and Bruce are recent additions (from Preston and Ipswich), with Naylor and Bromby surviving from the previous League 1 campaign. Whilst the players in this position are commanding in the air and provide a good physical presence, they lack pace and due to poor mental attributes are again only really at best average Championship players.

Central midfielders: Jonny Howson (vice captain), Amdy Faye, Neil Kilkenny, Bradley Johnson, Adam Clayton

Howson, Kilkenny and Johnson were all mainstays of Leeds' League 1 squad, and can all probably do a decent enough job in the Championship but are largely unproven at this level. Kilkenny is the best passer of the ball in the squad, but none of the central midfielders are particularly creative players.

Howson can also play on the right of midfield, Johnson can play on the left and also at left back at a push.

The new arrivals are Faye and Clayton - the experienced Faye is the only central midfielder with real defensive attributes but at 33 is reaching the end of his career, whilst Clayton is a good young prospect and an ex-Manchester City youth academy player, but as yet has made only a handful of substitute appearances in the first team.

Wingers/wide midfielders: Robert Snodgrass, Max Gradel, Lloyd Sam, Andy Robinson, Andy Hughes, Aiden White

Snodgrass provides the only real consistent quality in wide areas, but starts the season on the injury table. "Mad" Max Gradel (ex Leicester) and Lloyd Sam (ex Charlton) are again recent arrivals, although Gradel did spend the end of the 2009/10 season on loan at the club before signing on a permanent contract.

18 year old England u-19 international Aiden White is probably the best young prospect at the club who, while natural in the left midfield position, can also provide cover at left full back. Andy Hughes is primarily a utility player who's main use in the current squad is to provide back up for the right back position.

Attacking midfield: Ramon Nunez

Honduran world cup international Ramon Nunez is natural in the AMC position but can play anywhere across the midfield in a variety of attacking roles. Another new arrival at the club, and currently only on a short term contract (until December 2010), he's a player that a new manager will probably want to tie down to a longer contract.

Forwards: Ross McCormack, Luciano Becchio, Billy Paynter, Mike Grella, Davide Somma, Sanchez Watt (on loan from Arsenal)

McCormack (ex Cardiff) and Paynter (signed on a free from Swindon) are again new arrivals, with McCormack being one of the few new players the club actually paid any money for. MCormack should be an effective enough striker at this level, Becchio provides a good physical presence up front and is well suited to a target-man role, with Paynter probably decent enough for this role as back up. However, Grella, Somma and Watt are unlikely to provide adequate back-up at Championship level (based on their FM11 attributes!)

How they line up

The real life Leeds have tended to line up using two possible formations in the 2009/10 season - 4-4-2 and 4-5-1. They started the season as 4-5-1 with Becchio up front on his own due to a shortage of strikers, changed to 4-4-2 as Somma starting doing well, but still go back to 4-5-1 for some games as this formation seems to suit the current make up of the squad best - probably because the extra man in midfield makes up for the shortcomings of the current midfield players and provides more cover to the defence.

4-5-1 (or 4-3-3) allows Leeds to make best use of the range of options in midfield, and plays to Becchion's strengths as a target man in the lone striker role. 2 of Gradel/Snodgrass/Sam/Watt play in the attacking wide midfield positions with 3 of Faye/Howson/Kilkenny/Johnson in central midfield.

When playing as a 4-4-2, Leeds tend to line up with Somma and Becchio up front, Howson/Kilkenny and Faye in central midfield, and Snodgrass/Sam/Watt/Johnson/Gradel in the wide positions. Howson can also play right midfield in a 4-4-2, allowing Kilkenny to play the central midfield role, but hasn't tended to be used much in that role this season.

In summary

Let's face it, this is a squad built after 3 years in League 1 with the aim of surviving in the Championship. As such it probably offers a new Leeds manager sufficient resources to achieve the mid-table finish expected by the Board, maybe even push for a play-off spot, but would probably need some changes to support a realistic promotion challenge and would certainly need major changes to compete at Premier League level. However, given the large number of players to have recently joined the club, it is likely to prove difficult to move many of the existing players on in the short term.

The weakest area of the current squad is probably the defence, where 1 or 2 quality central defenders would make a big difference but improvements could be made across the entire back four. Midfield has only 1 real defensive CM and lacks a really creative player, while up front the squad lacks quality back-up for McCormack and Becchio.

With this in mind, it's probably not that useful to spend that much time talking about preferred formation or tactics for the current Leeds squad, as with the likely changes needed to compete in the Premier League the squad will need overhauling so much that managers can rebuild it based around whatever tactics and/or formation they want to use.

So why manage Leeds?

Leeds United have a history as one of England's most successful clubs, good facilities including a near 40,000 capacity stadium, and a large and loyal fanbase. They are currently a real "sleeping giant" of English football - all the potential is there for this club to one day be seen again as one of the very top clubs in English football - all it will take is an ambitious manager ready to take on the challenge of building a team capable of recapturing those former glories and taking Leeds United back to the Premier League, back into Europe and back to winning trophies.

The last 10 years have seen the club go from Champions League semi final to the 3rd tier of English football, but now, with a promotion to the Championship, they could be on their way back to the top. Could you be the manager to take on the challenge of making this once great club famous again?

reserved for future stuff

reserved for more future stuff

OK, I said in the OP that it wasn't worth talking about the tactics for the current squad that much, as I think most managers will want to make changes to the squad, but I'm going to do it anyway.

I started playing a 4-4-2. Schmeichel in goal, Bessone, Bruce, Collins and Connelly at the back, and with a ball winning midfielder, advanced playmaker (support) and 2 wingers in midfield. With the starting Leeds squad its Nunez - Kilkenny - Faye - Snodgrass that fit that best but with Snodgrass injured I use Olivier Kapo, available on a free, instead. Sam is useless and is only still in the squad cos he's a new arrival. There's no cover for Faye so that's the one CM role I need to sign someone for. Kilkenny is the best CM for the creative slot, he's actually pretty good (well, the best we have) as a playmaker, and Howson/Clayton aren't completely useless as cover.

Up front McCormack and Becchio are decent enough but there's no cover for McCormack as Somma is so bad on the game, which means a good finisher is a priority for me. Paynter is ok as cover for Becchio.

All the defenders are crap, but we're stuck with em until January at least I reckon. Freebies/loans seem the best option the demo - which for defenders meant Finnan, DeMerit and Shittu. Kyle Walker is a good loan signing from Spurs to play at right back.

Having played through the demo with this set up a play off spot by January is achievable, with some further changes in January it might even be possible to push for a top 2 spot but I'm not sure I'd want to, another season in the Championship to sort this squad out is probably needed.

Other decent free signings on the demo, for strikers - Jérémie Aliadière, Omar Koroma, Julio Cruz all worth looking at on frees; Garry O'connor can be bought from Birmingham for about £800k and does well in the Championship. Taufic Guarch is a young Mexican striker who looks well worth a go at around £800k as well (credit to Nicko for finding him )

I then tried using a 4-3-3 formation, which was inspired by seeing Leeds play like this when they won 4-1 away at Scunthorpe the other day. Becchio was on his own up front, supported by Snodrass and Gradel out wide. 3 central midfielders (Faye defensive, Kilkenny on support and Howson with an attack role, once Johnson came on for Faye early in the 2nd half it did let Howson get further forward). Same back 4 and GK.

The only signings I made on this run through the demo were DeMerit at CB on a free, and then Kyle Walker (DR) Nordtveit (MC), Kakuta (AML) and Chris Wood (ST) on loan. Playing like this I scored less goals but also conceded a lot less, and was sitting in a play off spot by the end of the demo. So could be worth a go.

Having said all this, I still think that overall the squad needs a lot of changes and can only see myself hanging on to Schmeichel and maybe Nunez, Clayton and White beyond my first season, and I'll be working on rebuilding the squad to aim for promotion to the Premier League in the 2nd season.

Grats on getting a Leeds thread started. Great OP also

about time coen and great OP

is it just me or should snodgrass be a natural RM and RW rather than LM and LW as Ive rarely seen him play on the left?

is it just me or should snodgrass be a natural RM and RW rather than LM and LW as Ive rarely seen him play on the left?

In game he is natural RW (or AMR) and only accomplished in the left midfield positions, which is probably about right as you say.

He did really well for me in that AMR position when I tried playing 4-3-3 as well, finished the demo as my top scorer with 9 goals in 18 games.

Good job on the thread, can't wait to start on friday

god i mustve read it wrong, could have sworn it said LM LW natural, maybe I'm thinking of FM10 I dunno - for some reason I cant beat preston - just lost 4-3 to them after been 2-0 up - for some reason kasper is a big liability - 5 shots on target and he saved 1 great although a cross that hit mccormack landed at parkins feet for an open net finish for the winner, the defence certainly does need looking at - its just a shambles but it seems the keeper does contribute as well as in the same game lonergan made 4 saves 2 of which were clear cut chances.

This will be interesting. True sleeping giant

I think Leeds will probably be my first game in FM11 (Ipswich being the other team I'm considering, if only to put Roy Keane on the dole queue). I had a great game with Leeds on FM10 where I achieved consecutive promotions in the first two seasons, then secured a European spot in my first season back in the Premier League. I reckon it'll be harder this season though, as you don't get a season in League 1 to reshape things in your own image with what's already one of the best squads in the division. Don't reckon that promotion in the first season will be realistic, except via some luck (in the play-offs or otherwise).

There are some really good Championship-standard frees available at the start though, some of whom have already been mentioned (DeMerit, Finnan, Shittu, Julio Cruz, Aliadiere). I've also been looking at Diego Camacho and Ousmane Dabo, who're both solid, if aging DMs. Another midfield option is Abderrahman Kabous, who I signed last year for several teams and he always performed well. Michael Ball's still free of course, but whereas last year you could get him in League 1, this year he seems to attract interest from lower Premier League clubs.

There's also Jose Goncalves, who IMO is one of the best frees available at the start. I reckon he'd be a good complement to Leeds' other slow central defenders (or even DeMerit/Shittu if you signed one of them too). He has pace to burn, good tackler, decent in the air, determined and works hard. Not the greatest mentals other than that, but should be okay in the Championship. The only slight problem is his wages, as he wants £16,000 a week before negotiation. Still worth it though I reckon, especially as he's a perfect fit for what the squad needs and there's no transfer fee involved.

Really good to see this and a great OP. Thank you Coen.

Well Done Coen on a great OP.

Can I just say about time too!!

Have a look at Jack Sampson (ST) available on a free from Bolton.

Not particuarly brilliant but a good all round striker.

Just another thought is it worth looking for another Natural AML as White is the only natural in that position

Aretak - I'd agree that a DM is needed and will be looking for one on the full game, I'll check out the ones you listed, I'm sure I also used Abderrahman Kabous in FM10 so will look at him again. Jose Goncalves is also a good shout I think, he's a player I'll definitely be looking at.

Elland - I think I did look at Sampson in the demo but must have decided he wasn't worth it, I'll have another look though as I don't really remember what he was like. Left midfield is a slight problem, as you say White is the only natural left midfielder in the squad, but I tended to use Nunez there and he did well so will probably go with him for now.

Aretak - I'd agree that a DM is needed and will be looking for one on the full game, I'll check out the ones you listed, I'm sure I also used Abderrahman Kabous in FM10 so will look at him again. Jose Goncalves is also a good shout I think, he's a player I'll definitely be looking at.

Elland - I think I did look at Sampson in the demo but must have decided he wasn't worth it, I'll have another look though as I don't really remember what he was like. Left midfield is a slight problem, as you say White is the only natural left midfielder in the squad, but I tended to use Nunez there and he did well so will probably go with him for now.

White as a "Natural" should be given the chance over Nunez surely

White is good on the left, however its purely due to his pace, and would probably be better coming off the bench instead of tiring him with regular football at his age, as his technical stats aren't that good so he'd be much more effective running at a tired team. I think I'm going to focus on, CB, CM, CF, LW, depending on formation. If I go 4-5-1, I'll leave striker for a while, but if I go 4-4-2, Striker will be needed, although Grella actually did ok in the demo, I will check out Jose Goncalves when I load up

White as a "Natural" should be given the chance over Nunez surely

Yep I'll be giving White a chance but he's still got to improve a lot and won't be able to play every game - so I'll be rotating him and Nunez in left midfield really. I think I'd agree with MattR1 that using White as a sub might be the best way to use him initially. It just means I don't think I'll need to go out and get anyone else to play LM to start with.

I reckon I'll be looking at getting a CB, DR, DM and striker as the priorities to start with, but will also look around for any cheap players that would be an improvement on the current squad (like Goncalves)

Yeah, the defence is the main focus when i start the game. Naylor, Bromby and Crowe will all be shown the door so i can bring in more capable defenders. Also on the look out for some half decent full backs as Bessone was shocking on the demo and Connelly wasn't too much better but had flashes of quality. Whats going to be the real pain in the arse is the squad size seeing as we can only register 25 players and it was a real struggle in the demo when i didn't sign many so with whole sale changes it'll really be a struggle.

Yep I'll be giving White a chance but he's still got to improve a lot and won't be able to play every game - so I'll be rotating him and Nunez in left midfield really. I think I'd agree with MattR1 that using White as a sub might be the best way to use him initially. It just means I don't think I'll need to go out and get anyone else to play LM to start with.

Que the booing...

I'll be selling him. Whilst he is the only youth prospect at the club with Premiership potential, his £1.2M value at game start is a very attractive selling option for me. Neither he nor Nunez are adequate for LM IMO. From time on the quick starts, I've someone else in mind and yes... he is South American.

Great to have this thread running and enjoying the chat already!

Cheers Coen!

dont know if anyones tried it yet,but you can get the board to give you more percentage of transfer revenue,wider scouting,more staff and upgrade youth facilities at the start of the game,ive manage to get all 4,but it is abit random

also mutual termination of all staff except

snodin,beasley,neil redferne,and gwynn williams and bought in these,who i believe are the best availible to leeds at the start of the game

steve gritt 1st team £525

colin cooper 1st team £600

john treacy coach £500

alan cork coach £700

brian borrows coach £700

andy renshaw fitness £650

chris malkin physio £700

fergal geraghty physio £300

barry whitbread scout £500

alan miller scout £625

simon hunt scout £625

ted davies scout £625

glen cockerill scout £500

hope this helps afew people

dont know if anyones tried it yet,but you can get the board to give you more percentage of transfer revenue,wider scouting,more staff and upgrade youth facilities at the start of the game,ive manage to get all 4,but it is abit random

also mutual termination of all staff except

snodin,beasley,neil redferne,and gwynn williams and bought in these,who i believe are the best availible to leeds at the start of the game

steve gritt 1st team £525

colin cooper 1st team £600

john treacy coach £500

alan cork coach £700

brian borrows coach £700

andy renshaw fitness £650

chris malkin physio £700

fergal geraghty physio £300

barry whitbread scout £500

alan miller scout £625

simon hunt scout £625

ted davies scout £625

glen cockerill scout £500

hope this helps afew people

Yes it does. Particularly helpful tip on scouting, youth facilities and transfer revenue.

Will look at those staff tomorrow in context of bigger database.

Que the booing...

I'll be selling him. Whilst he is the only youth prospect at the club with Premiership potential, his £1.2M value at game start is a very attractive selling option for me. Neither he nor Nunez are adequate for LM IMO. From time on the quick starts, I've someone else in mind and yes... he is South American.

Great to have this thread running and enjoying the chat already!

I will use White as a backup (ML) to Nickos top South Americans (bring it on)

Hope I can get his price up before I cash in after a couple of seasons

Que the booing...

I'll be selling him. Whilst he is the only youth prospect at the club with Premiership potential, his £1.2M value at game start is a very attractive selling option for me. Neither he nor Nunez are adequate for LM IMO. From time on the quick starts, I've someone else in mind and yes... he is South American.

Great to have this thread running and enjoying the chat already!

Booo!

Actually £1.2m for Aidy aint bad. I spent a bit of time looking through the players on all the different quickstarts myself and came up with a list of about 40 cheap players to look at on the full game, I can't remember if any of them were left midfielders but if I can identify a better cheap option I wouldn't be averse to selling pretty much any of the starting squad. For now I'm only really thinking of who I need to replace in the first transfer window, and Aidy/Nunez will probably do me until January when I'll look at the squad again.

Tugboat.

How do you get those 4 great options.

Let us know

Oh and tugboat - thanks for that list of staff, I'd look at hiring scouts myself on the demo and I think came up with the same names, but I hadnt bothered looking at sorting the coaching out so those names will be a big help, cheers.

I will use White as a backup (ML) to Nickos top South Americans (bring it on)

Hope I can get his price up before I cash in after a couple of seasons

It's on pal, it's on...

Booo!

Actually £1.2m for Aidy aint bad. I spent a bit of time looking through the players on all the different quickstarts myself and came up with a list of about 40 cheap players to look at on the full game, I can't remember if any of them were left midfielders but if I can identify a better cheap option I wouldn't be averse to selling pretty much any of the starting squad. For now I'm only really thinking of who I need to replace in the first transfer window, and Aidy/Nunez will probably do me until January when I'll look at the squad again.

I thought the same, but I found that White's value dropped a lot without frequent games (down to about £750K by January I think)...

Nice one Coen, even if it is the Leeds thread...

Tugboat.

How do you get those 4 great options.

Let us know

boardroom interact with board

Booo!

Actually £1.2m for Aidy aint bad. I spent a bit of time looking through the players on all the different quickstarts myself and came up with a list of about 40 cheap players to look at on the full game, I can't remember if any of them were left midfielders but if I can identify a better cheap option I wouldn't be averse to selling pretty much any of the starting squad. For now I'm only really thinking of who I need to replace in the first transfer window, and Aidy/Nunez will probably do me until January when I'll look at the squad again.

if you sell aidy at the start offer him for 1.5m and villa will buy him........bite there hand off and spend spend spend

I picked Leeds to go with for my first game in FM 11. They have a decent squad but with a few tweaks i thought I could get them to the Premier league after one season.

The owners don't really feel that way and even suggesting a fight for the title I received the paltry sum of 1 million pounds to bolster the squad.

I set out looking for some freebies and signed Enzo Meresca,Julio Cruz,Yildary Basturk and Jay DeMerit.

I didn't want to sell White but a few premiership teams were sniffing around so I offered him up for 2.5 and Sunderland came back with a 2.2 Million pound offer which I accepted. I also moved out Kilkenny to Burnley for 2.5 million pounds and sell Somma,Grella,Bechhio and Gradel for close to 1 million pounds total. Now with a nice transfer kit I looked for bargins.

First up was Fredson a Brazillian DM from Avail for 350K. I then signed De Guzman from Toronto FC for 1.1 million pounds and Cairney from Hull for 1.1. My scouts spotted a young Right back from Le Mans in Sebastien Corchia after some negoations I forked over 2.1 million pounds. I tried to get some various loans in but failed so this was the squad I started with.

I went with a 4-2-3-1 Formation with 2 DM's and 3 AMs

Schmiechal

Bessone - DeMerit - Bruce - Corchia

Maresca Guzman

McCormack Bisturk Cairney

Cruz

We started out slowly losing 2 of the first 5 matches and drawing the 3 others. But then the team started to get the hang of my new formation and we went on a torrid 15 game unbeaten run. When the winter transfer window opened up we found ourselves in first place by 8 points. The owners decided to help us out and gave us 10 million pounds to strengthen the squad. I decided to out and offer 5.5 million pounds for Rafael Toloi the up and coming CB from Brazil. His team accepted and he was happy to come over. I then snapped up young Martin Galvan and Vinicuis for a total of 2.5 million pounds for the future.

my free transfers

demerit £8000

michael ball £8500

guillerme franco £7500 scores a shed load

enzo maresca £13000 well worth it

gai assulin

liam rosenior£10000

steve finnan£3800

and brought taufic guarch £950k wages £5000

sold

white 1.5m

becchio 525k

johnson 300k

grella 210k

kilkenny 650k

robinson free and subsidise the fat twats wages

Well £1.5m for White might just be too good to turn down at the start of the game.. and like I say, I'm expecting to offload pretty much the whole squad by the start of the 2nd season anyway.

Sod it, sorry Aidy, it's been nice and all that but I think he's on his way

Well £1.5m for White might just be too good to turn down at the start of the game.. and like I say, I'm expecting to offload pretty much the whole squad by the start of the 2nd season anyway.

Sod it, sorry Aidy, it's been nice and all that but I think he's on his way

I'll have that £1.5M too. Saw a post earlier in the bargain buys thread that Humberto Suazo can be picked up for £1.4M. If he get's a w/p and he'll come to Leeds, it will be thanks Aidy and shut the door on the way out. Suazo would GUN Leeds to the Prem or what? Speaking of class Chileans, I noticed in the Chile quick start that the FM08 star buy Luis Jimenez is back at Terana in Serie C1 after a few sesaons on loan. He's not as immense as FM 08, but he's way good enough and valued at £1M. If he'll come, I'll have him too.

I won't be selling Aidy, he's the last thing the academy will produce for a while and want to hang on to him, Jonny and Parker, also might try and get McCann a bit better and some other youngsters

lol nicko's started, I cant wait for tomorrow although i wont get to play it much as im at work all day then off to a firework display with the family so probs wont get much time on it

rbird you got the full game then? how is this possible, i want it - works at game or somewhere i bet?

nicko have you had a look at old mates opare and mattioni?

nicko have you had a look at old mates opare and mattioni?

Mattioni is out of our reach this year, to begin with any as he's moved permanently to Espanyol. Not sure about Opare just yet.

But, don't worry me old mate. I've got a cracking DR lined up for tomorrow. He's free, he's Brazilian and he's got an EU passport...

Mattioni is out of our reach this year, to begin with any as he's moved permanently to Espanyol. Not sure about Opare just yet.

But, don't worry me old mate. I've got a cracking DR lined up for tomorrow. He's free, he's Brazilian and he's got an EU passport...

I spotted a brazilian DR with portuguese citizenship available on a free as well as it happens, wonder if it's the same one (and if he'll come to Leeds!)

he is free on the demo, but might not be on the full game?

and, is he better than finnan, rosenior etc?

and, is he better than finnan, rosenior etc?

Oh yes. Don't worry about that.

Just starting up my Leeds game now!

Nicko, you are so un-loyal to Leeds players, so ruthless

I could never sell Becchio, White, Howson et al. They are going to stay with me all their lifes!

I wont sell Howson as I rate him highly but if we got to the prem I doubt becchio would be good enough and White would need to progress a lot to get into the first team regularly, snoddy might be good enough - maybe parker and schmeichal but everyone else I doubt will be good enough

No room for sentiment in this game SGartz!

Anyway, no one will take Howson off my hands so I guess I'm stuck with him...

No room for sentiment in this game SGartz!

Anyway, no one will take Howson off my hands so I guess I'm stuck with him...

I need to keep it at a certain level of realism for me to stay interested, I need to feel a bond between my players. How sad am I??