FM11: Blackburn Rovers Thread

How can you fare taking over from Big Sam and will you be able to give the fans’ necks a much needed rest that they have been craving and give them “on the floor” football. With potential new owners hovering over the club like a hawk stalking it’s pray, perhaps the club will receive a much-needed cash boost in the near future to revitalise a squad that is beginning to age and stagnate.

Staff

You won’t start with the largest array of backroom staff, I would also be wary of teams trying to poach Neil McDonald (your assistant manager), although he’s not the best he is better than what is available to you if he does indeed leave, so ensuring he should remain at the club is a priority, there is also a lack of attacking coaches which needs to be addressed. I would also think about sacking Iain Brunskill as his stats are not great and it is a prime opportunity to at the start as you are told they will all accept mutual terminations.

In Paul Robinson you have a clear choice as number 1 and a very reliable one at that with great reflexes and a great kick on him, his mental stats aren’t the highest but he is a good solid base to start your squad.

You start with Mark Bunn and Jason Brown who are capable understudies to Robinson, but I would advise shipping one of them off, they have very similar stats, although Bunn is weaker mentally, but he is only 25 so may have some potential still to develop; you also have Frank Fielding who would be able to fill in as third choice if you decide to sell Bunn or Brown on.

Sell: Jason Brown - £800k-£1m

Buy: No urgent need to strengthen this area, and with the limited budget the money would be best spent elsewhere.

You have a number of options here, with Pascal Chimbonda being your first choice, but with Michel Salgado and Brett Emerton just behind. Salgado’s stats are still quite good for his age but he is not a long-term solution, that said all three players are now on the wrong side of 30 and so looking for a new right back in a season or 2 will become a priority.

Sell: Michel Salgado - £Market Value - age is not on his side and being on £35k a week is a lot of money for a player who may not necessarily play week in week out.

Buy: There aren’t too many affordable options for you at the start of the game that will be worth the necessary investment. Mikael Lustig would be a suggested player to look into though will cost more than £1.5m. if you are looking to strengthen this area I would look more towards loan signings.

At Left back you have two hugely contrasting players, you have the young and rapid Martin Olsson, who is probably better suited to play as a left midfielder winger due to his not so amazing marking but is great for attacking from the back. On the other hand you have a defensively sound but not so great going forward Gael Givet, who, albeit for his less than ideal stat for jumping is best played at centre back. I would probably rotate the two and ultimately would depend on where other members of the team play. (e.g. if you decide to play Pedersen in the centre rather than the left).

Sell: Both are good players and unless you can bring in immediate replacements it would be foolish to offload either at this time.

Buy: Roberto Carlos - £700k-£1.2m - although he is 37 he has great stats, isn’t the best mentally and should probably have better concentration for where he plays, he will definitely fill a gap whilst you establish yourself as a manager, you can then invest in some youth once you have the finances to do so.

Christopher Samba is your key man here, he’s so dominant in the air at set pieces and is hard to beat on the ground as well, he should be starting every game as he will be the rock at the heart of your defense. His centre back partner should be Ryan Nelsen, although his legs are just about gone his intelligence of a football pitch are a great aid to the team, he is solid in the air and in the tackle and knows how to be in the right place at the right time.

Coming through the ranks at Rovers is the 18 year old Phil Jones, I’m surprised how low his jumping stat is considering how much he managed to dominate Didier Drogba aerially on a number of occasions last season but hopefully that will improve as he progresses. As mentioned before, depending on how you have the rest of the team setup it will be Jones and Givet who will provide backup for Samba (for when he gets suspended) and for Nelsen (when he’s injured). There is also Amine Linganzi to consider but only if the other backups are injured. You will have Khizanishvili returning from a loan spell at Reading but you should look to move him on as he is surplus to requirements.

Sell: Ship out Khizanishvili once he returns from his loan spell, if you find Phil Jones is not getting many games you may want to consider loaning him to a championship side.

Buy: There is no great rush to replace Nelsen as he is good for a couple more seasons and does have replacements in Givet and Jones, money is needed elsewhere.

Your main protagonist here would be Mr ‘el-spit’ Diouf, who is competent at playing on either side of midfield, he has a bit of pace and can dribble and cross but nothing special. You have a work horse in Brett Emerton whose best position is arguably right midfield who is most likely to be vying for the position with Diouf. You have two youngsters in Aaron Doran and David Hoilett, both are very similar players, lots of pace and flair but lack the mental strength or technical ability to really be able to cut it at premiership level at the start of the game.

Sell: David Hoilett can bring in a huge amount of capital ranging from £4-5m, although he could well become a potential star, going by previous games it would not be so stupid to try and offload him now with a big sell-on clause just in case.

Buy: Fernando Arce is available for around £750k and shouldn’t have any problems getting a work permit, he is of significantly better quality than any of the options available to you, at that price he is a bargain.

The obvious starter would be Morten Gamst Pedersen, not the fastest but can whip a mean ball in from deep has a great engine on him and can deliver a tremendous long throw. You are a bit light of options with Martin Olsson your only other real option here, he will give you a great outlet and will chase all lost causes, he would be best played as an out and out winger rather than restricting him to the left side of midfield as his pace is devastating, Diouf can play on the left and should probably be used here during an injury crisis or if you decide you want to play with inside forwards.

Sell: Teams will come in for Pedersen but would avoid selling unless you can get a good quality replacement.

Buy: With the money available to you at the start, unless you are able to make money elsewhere, I would stick with what you’ve got.

In centre of the park Blackburn have a lot of hard workers but there is only really David Dunn who has the quality to do anything special with the ball and create something out of nothing, the only thing is that unless you are able to improve his dwindling physical stats he more than likely won’t manage to play every game. You have good defensive options in N’Zonzi, who was voted as fan’s player of the year last season. Depending on your formation I would start with N’Zonzi and Dunn, with Goulan as backup. You also have Pedersen who can fill in as your creative influence in midfield should Dunn be struggling for fitness but his best position is on the left.. You should really be looking to bring in a young, dynamic force to eventually replace Dunn, but you will be struggling to afford anyone of any real quality with the funds that you have.

Sell: You may notice I have not mentioned Keith “I’m so Irish it hurts” Andrews, this is purely out of principle that he should not be playing in the premiership, you will find that West Ham and Fulham are keen to take him off you at the start off the season. You may also want to try and ship Vince Grella, although I do find clubs are itnerested but not willing to make an offer.

Buy: If you can afford his wages I would consider trying to bring in Robert Pires on a free, although he’s 36 his stats are great and could do a job in rotation with Dunn as neither are particularly shy of picking up the odd knock. Anthony Annan was a hidden gem is last year’s game; he had a good world cup with Ghana, and can be picked up for around £1m and is a great destroyer in midfield, which could leave you with the possibility of retraining N’Zonzi as another centre half.

At the start of the game the only forward with any real star quality is Nikola Kalinic, who should be used as either a deep lying forward or complete forward depending on your formation. Benjani can do a job but he turns 32 at the beginning of the season and although he has good strength and a great first touch is finishing is woeful for a premiership striker. The same can be said for Jason “barn door” Roberts, who is a man mountain of a guy but when it comes to finishing and composure he’ll always find a way to miss the net. You also have Mame Biram Diouf on loan from Manchester United, he has blistering pace but again lacks the technical ability at the start of the game to guarantee a starting birth.

Sell: Jason Roberts is wanted the start of the game by Stoke who will pay £800k-£1m for the privilege.

Buy: Christian Benitez (now back at his parent club after the season long loan at Birmingham) is a great signing, you should manage to get him for around £1.7m, this will give you someone who can actually finish whilst having the ability to torture defences with his pace and dribbling. Play him off Kalinic and you will see goals.

The formation that sees your best players playing in their best positions is 4-4-2, although your assistant does advise you that you can play 4-1-2-1-2 or 4-5-1.

The starting squad at Rovers is ok, but definitely lacks a quality in depth. If you are to achieve the media expectation at the start of the system the team will need a few additions, particularly up front. Please add your own comments and suggestions.

i'm on december 26th first season. slightly edited db but no changes to Blackburn other than John Williams is more likely to sell (my save has given no indication yet though) & raised Salgado's CA by about 5 (he's been top stuff for us since he signed, rarely thrashed in a game)

didn't have transfer window open for first part (prefer the game that way, like db's to be realistic it would be daft to see City sign anyone else!)

evaluation and my tactics;

Paul Robinson (A) top player so far, he's been amazing including some 9+'s

Givet (B) like him alot, hasn't done anything spectacular but has been good

Olsson © hasn't really had a good game, I suppose it's because never played in natural position

Samba (B) FM likes giants, he is one. solid and no **** games, shame only one goal from corners though, not sure how to improve that

Nelsen (B-) haven't really seen anything bad or good; which is probably a good thing

Jones © hasn't had many chances, will need to give more game time. shame got knocked out so early in CC. FA cup for him

Salgado (B+) scored a beauty early in season and never has low ratings, obviously his wage is a problem

Emerton (E) bastard, slagged me off and doesn't perform

Chimbonda (E) as above, slagged me off even though he didn't play (probably a bug)

N'Zonzi © solid, unspectacular

Grella (C+) as above but seems to do better on the engine passing wise

Andrews (D) hasn't had many chances, was in reserve's @ the start, didn't really tihnk about him (shame as on FM10 he was decent)

Pedersen (c-) not so good, not many good performances, spose cos I play AML and don't use him centrally. want more from him

Dunn © was decent as AMC treq but now I play 4-4-2 limiting his chances, will test how he plays as MC in the next few weeks

Diouf (B) as a winger he's been bagging quite a few, I like him on FM11, 10 he was ****. moaned about me with Chimbonda though.

Roberts © barely played but when he has came on he's bagged one maradona style goal & one outrageous chip from edge of box. WTF

M Diouf (B-) alright but misses to easily, pace is quite an attribute, a good player to have on loan

Benjani (C+) not done much but bagged two vs Chelsea, so love that.

Kalinic © pretty poor up front alone, now alongside people he's scoring and creating. Hopefully I can get him playing better though.

If i've forgot them i'm sorry. Hoilett hasn't had much of a chance

more later!

Robinson, Pedersen and Samba all were on the EPL Team of the Year in my Blackburn game.

elaborate, what tactics for these players?

Robinson should just be set as a standard keeper, I wouldn't set his distribution to long kick though despite having 19 kicking, I have noticed more often than not the ball just comes straight back at you so I would stick to quick throw/defender collect. Samba should be set to your standard centre half, I rarely tweak this regardless of who I would play at the back, only thing I really change is where he is at set pieces, usually set him as the focal point because he is such a beast in the air. Pedersen should be played as a wide midfielder on either attack or support and not in the centre of the park, usually helps having a pacy fulback who can overlap as Ped is not the quickest. On a side note I am getting a lot of success playing Kalinic as a deep lying forward on support, but with long shots set to rarely and hold the ball up and roam from position set to no. scored 5 in the last two games since changing his settings.

Nice OP. I decided to go with Blackburn, mainly due to the OP, I was looking for an EPL club outside the Big 4.

I sold Jason Roberts, Keith Andrews and Michel Salgado for a combined £3.9m. Vince Grella and Brett Emerton both left on loans with a view to a £5m transfer.

First buy was JLloyd Samuel on a season long loan + £50k loan fee to help shore up the left back area. Second, Miralem Sulejmani on a season long loan + £575k loan fee, to compete with David Dunn. Nathaniel Clyne then joined for £1m up front + £1m after 30 months + £1m after 1st international appearance, to eventually succeed Chimbonda.

My big buy was Nolan Roux, £5m up front + £2.5m after 30 league goals + £2m after 40 months, he will start up top with Kalinic as a poacher, and should score left right and centre.

Oh, Jeremy Huygehebaert also joined on a season loan to cover for JLloyd Samuel.

I've been playing Jason Banton quite a bit at left midfield even though his stats are turd and he has 2 goals and 3 assists from 9 games which is quite good compared to Hoilett, Diouf, Pedersen etc. Anyone know Banton's potential ability? Signed Peter Pekarik, Leven Kenia and Niall McGinn on loan and all have been fantastic.

One of the biggest issues that Blackburn has is - Its playing group even though very solid, it is a ageing group! The squad is not good enough to challenge in the next 3 seasons as is, and then most of its senior playing group will be either to old (mid thirties) and most of them are on high salaries of $35K + Taking over the club puts you into an ideal situation to consider a rebuild, whilst remaining with some of the club strengths.

Transfers

Players Out

Salgado (34) - PSG $250K

Andrews (29) - Burnley - $1M

Grella (30) - LOSC - $1M

Roberts (32) - Stoke - $500K

Pedersen (29) - Liverpool - $4.7M

Diouf (29) - Man City - $3M

Cimbonda (31) - Auxerre $1M

Nelsen (31) - Palermo $1M

Total (Sterling) $12.5M

Players In

Gai Assulin (19) Free

Jacob Mellis (19) - $500K Chelsea

Alex Smithies (19) - $800K Huddersfield

Mitchel Meggison (18) -$325K Aberdeen

Jack Hobbs (22) - $4.1M Leicester

Romelu Lukaku (17) - $5.7M Anderlecht

Stephen Lichsteiner (25) - $6M Lazio

Lee Wallace - (19) - $2.9M Hearts

Total (Sterling) - $20M

As you can gather from my sales and signings I have significantly slashed my wage bill, and even offloaded some favourites, but looking forward to 2 seasons time, I am looking for my new signings to be league stand outs, along with the following home grown talents of - Banton, Hoilet, Jones, Potts, Billington etc.

Formation

Playing a straight 442

GK- Robinson/Smithies

DL - Wallace/Givet

DC - Givet/Jones

DC - Samba/Hobbs

DR - Lichtsteiner/Jones

ML- Olsson/Assulin

MC - Dunn/Potts

MC - N'Zoni/Goulon

MR - Emerton/Holiet

FC - Kalinic/Lukaku

FC - Benjani/Lukaku

Current form -

H - defeated Chelsea 2 - 0

A - Draw Everton 1 - 1

H - defeated Huddersfield (LC) 3 - 0

H - defeated Bolton 2 - 0

A - Aston Villa

H - Blackpool

A - Doncaster (LC)

A - Arsenal

H - Wolves

Currently sitting second, with a couple of tough away games..

I got £5 mill for Andrews!!!

$5M for Andrews is very good. Well done

I have completed my first season with rovers

Expected to finish 9th but ended up in 14th. Very inconsisent and two cup quarter finals saved me from the sack.

1st season outs and ins

Outs:

Salgado (Mutual termination after 10 games as we werent getting along - no compo)

Chimbonda (2m)

Givet (Loan 100%wages)

Nelsen (1.5m)

Andrews (£0)

Dunn (1.5m)

Roberts (0)

Benjani (0)

Diouf (3m)

P. Jones (£7m up front plus 25% and £1m england cap)

Ins

Walker (Loan)

Mattock (2.5m)

Woodgate (875k)

Tomkins (£3m)

Bennett (peterboro) (£1.5m)

Cairney (£2.5m)

Lukuka (6.5m)

Church (2.5m)

N'Gadi (FREE) BEAST!

Line up

Robinson

Walker

Samba

Woodgate

Olsson

Hoillet

Cairney

N'Zonzi

Gamst

Kallinic

M. Diouf

(lukuka wasnt fit often enough, diouf played 22 starts 12 goals)

Season 2 outs:

Givet 3.3m

Cairney £10m

Ins

Cork (3.7m)

Witsel 4.4m

Bentley (2m)

On my 3rd season with Rovers despite being a Liverpool fan.

Samba, Olsson and Jones have been the standouts but N'Zonzi is the star, worth £10.25M and gets 10-15 goals a season from set pieces.

I've kinda retired my save but will go back to it here and there-

2nd season brought in

Demba Ba-5mil

Kadlec - 1.3mil

Sheamus Coleman 5mil

Sanogo (Auxerre) 5mil

Mama Diarra - free

Elm - free

side is suddenly pretty awesome, rarely being beaten 3rd by Feb!!!! to me this is unrealistic and i'm struggling to enjoy the save. too many managerial changes in the league + having been given 14mil to spend has made me ejoy it less.

Robinson

Olsson

Coleman

Jones

Samba

Pedersen

Diarra

N'Zonzi

Kalinic

Kadlec

my usual side, it's a bit silly I'm doing so well.

Phil Jones is utterly awesome though, interception king

I haven't had much time to play recently due to work, very interesting seeing some people getting some success from Banton! The coaches do say he should be included more in the first team. Phil Jones seems to be one of those even though is jumping stat isn't that great his determination and anticipation give him the ability to get to the ball ahead of most forwards.

Im starting to get a bit annoyed with this game. Ive played, and tested 3 saves and on each one Samba has been unsettled towards the end of the first season and requested a transfer resulting in me having to sell him. In these saves ive finished 5th, 6th and 7th and won 2 FA Cups & 1 League Cups.

A player of his reputation would easily been satisfied with the clubs stature with those league positions and cup runs. Also, on each save im named as one of his his favoured personel and Balckburn as a favoured club.

What the hell?

Im starting to get a bit annoyed with this game. Ive played, and tested 3 saves and on each one Samba has been unsettled towards the end of the first season and requested a transfer resulting in me having to sell him. In these saves ive finished 5th, 6th and 7th and won 2 FA Cups & 1 League Cups.

A player of his reputation would easily been satisfied with the clubs stature with those league positions and cup runs. Also, on each save im named as one of his his favoured personel and Balckburn as a favoured club.

What the hell?

This could be down to the transfer speculation around him, I find that Chelsea are usually sniffing about for most of the season, your own personal reputation may also have something to do with it. I have managed to irritate players by doing very little, I'm currently top of the Prem with very few changes, but I have been strong armed into selling Givet becuase he isn't happy.

I'm just at the end of January in my first season. Very respectable 5th place in the league currently due to victories over Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool (twice) and Arsenal.

My big success story in terms of transfers has been the return of Roque Santa Cruz on loan from Man City. He's weighed in with 14 league goals so far and really helped take the pressure off Kalinic, who has had a shocker of a season. I bought Roberto Carlos but time has caught up with him and I've reverted Givet to left back with Samba and Nelsen in the centre of defence. Martin Olsson is having a great season and is keeping Pedersen out of the side. Also bought Gerrado Torrado for the centre of midfield and he's been a good buy.

I'd advise anyone against selling David Hoilett. Stuck him on the bench when Diouf was injured and gave him 20 minutes against Arsenal at the end of the game. He scored a 35 yard screamer and has been a revelation as an impact substitute ever since. One for the future!

Starting 11:

Robinson (GK)

Chimbonda (RB)

Samba (CB)

Nelsen (CB)

Givet (LB)

Emerton (RM)

Olsson (LM)

N'Zonzi (CM)

Torrado (CM)

Santa Cruz (ST)

Kalinic (ST)

I have been struggeling with Rovers quite some time now, dosent seem like Kalinic is producing any goals, missing loads of chances.. Anyone got Kalinic to produce? Anyone got some good instructions for him? What Role do you use him for?

complete forward support, got me 15 goals in the first season

Halfway through season 2.(Feb 1st) Lying inn 18th but only 5 points off 12.

Starting XI

Robinson

Naughton

Samba

Tomkins

Olsson

Henderson

Witsel

N'Zonzi

Pedersen

Kalinic

Lukaku

Armand Traore has been playing amazingly well from the bench.

Can't get Kalinic to score any more, he has 8 in the league but misses so many chances.

Pedersen is involved in a part exchange end of season for Delph with no cash involved. I think thats a good deal.

Can anyone recommend me a signing for anywhere in my squad ?

Not sure where too strengthen as i have 7.5m to spend and i'm in the first season

Playin a 4-4-2 diamond btw

Cheers

I can't give alot of advise for Blackburn in the first season but when I took over in January of Season 2 I cleared out what I took to be a rather tired looking strike force. Brought in David Pollet from RC Lens (800k). He was good for me, scoring 5 in 11. I also brought in Matias Suárez from Anderlecht for 3.4m. He is an odd player, only scoring once in 16 appearances but with 6 assists and an 81% pass rate he finished on a 7.08 average. I quite like him because he seems to compliment the other striker rather well.

Now moving into my third season and decided to build up the centre, brought in Fernando Bulluschi from Porto, Sergey Krivets and Tom Cairney for a combined 8.5m (Cairney cost me 6m) Bulluschi and Krivets can play on the wing so I was able to sell Diouf while I could still get any money for him.

Finally I was able to snap up Martin Cáceres for nothing after Barcelona let him go. I don't particularly need him (Samba and Jones are legends together) but half of Europe seems to be sniffing around Samba so I felt it best to be prepared. Don't get me wrong, I want to keep him, but I'm sure 10m would turn my head.

I got into the champions league after finishing 4th in my 2nd season! Linzagi and Jones are an amazing partnership but I just signed an Italian regen who is far better than either of them. I sold Robinson to Everton for 2.2 mil after Smithies came in and won me over. Valclav Kadlec was a revalation during the 4th placed season with 15 goals in all competitions after a poor start in the 1st season. I signed Wilson from Liverpool and he is amazing at left back. This season I got past the group stages quite convincingly but was brought down to earth by Atleti. I have also found that a diamond formation works quite well. I have N'Zonzi a Dm and a Brazillian on the point with Ashley Young and Martin Olsson on the wings. Kalinic is also in great form and is my top scorer with 17 and it is only February.

Started my Blackburn save again.

I would consider Blackburn to have huge potential has club in the Premier League. The squad is well balanced, but does need some shaping around the edges, but you has a good core group of players. As I stated with my first post on my previous game, the squad has a lot of ageing players at 30+ whom are on big salaries (for Blackburn) whom are predicted to finish mid table. With a few right signings in key areas, the team can finish top 7 and qualify for a European spot.

My preferences for my games are as follows -

Transfers - I prefer to sign British players under 21, that have been capped at youth level. If I am looking at signing a player outside this, they need to be under 27 and capped at National level.

Youth Policy - Where ever possible I try and develop 3 star or high players into my first team.

Wage Budget - I tend to try and stay under 500K if not playing in Europe, and under 700K if playing in a continental competition.

Player Statues - Maximum of 4 Key players within my squad, with maximum wages below 50K, unless playing in a continental competition.

Transfers Out

All fees are in Stirling

(Name) (Wage) (Club) (Transfer)

Salagado (35K) - PSG - 250K

Pedersen (35K) - Liverpool - 4.7M

Roberts (35K) - Stoke - 500K

Diouf (30K) - Man City - 3.7M

Cimbonda (23K) - Auxerre - 500K

Andrews (16K) - West Brom - 1M

Lowe () - Millwall - 60K

Brown (4K) - FREE

Hanley - FREE

Santa Cruz J - FREE

O'Connor - FREE

Kean - FREE

Parry - FREE

Fielding - Loan - Middlesbrough

Gunning - Loan - Motherwell

Total - 10.75M

Wages saved 174K per week.

Transfers In

Alex Smithies (GK) - Huddersfield -800K

Gai Assulin (AML/R) - Free Transfer

Joe Mattock (DL) - West Brom - 2.5M

Marco Verratti (AMC/MC) - Cagliari/Pescara - 500K/500K

Gauthier Mahoto (MC/DMC) - Free Transfer

Connor Wickham (FC) - Ipswich - 3M

Kyle Walker (DR) - Tottenham - Season Loan 475K - looking to buy permanently at end of season.

Total - 7.75M

All of the signings are under 21, and will likely feature as rotation players this season.

I would dearly love another forward up front, but I only have 5M left, which I have earmarked to buy Walker with.

Team/Formation

I am preparing and playing a 4-5-1 and using a 4-4-2 as a back up formation with my best side as feature below -

GK - Robinson

DR - Walker

DL - Mattock

DC - Samba

DC - Nelsen

DMC - N'Zonzi

MC - Goulon

MC - Dunn

AMR - Emerton

AML - Olsson

FC - Kalinic

Sub, Smithies, Givet, Grella, Hoilett, Benjani, Assulin, Jones

Development Players -

Wickham 17yr (FC) 4.5 stars

Jones 18yr (DC) 4.5 stars

Potts 18yr (MC) 3 stars

Banton 17yr (AML) 3.5 stars

Doran 19yr (AMR) 3 stars

Verratti 17yr (AMC) 4.5 stars

Mahoto 18yr (DMC) 3 stars

Ramm 17yr (DR) 3 stars

Billington 17y (DL) 3 stars

Current Game

Having started and played through to September 1st, I have managed 3 wins on the trott,

A - Liverpool - 1 nil - Emerton - Carragher received a red card in the second half.

H - Chelsea - 1 nil - N'Zonzi

A - Fulham - 2 Nil - 2 O.G - even through I didnt scored directly, still dominated shots on target 4- 2

Will post again at the next transfer window.

I got into the champions league after finishing 4th in my 2nd season! Linzagi and Jones are an amazing partnership but I just signed an Italian regen who is far better than either of them. I sold Robinson to Everton for 2.2 mil after Smithies came in and won me over. Valclav Kadlec was a revalation during the 4th placed season with 15 goals in all competitions after a poor start in the 1st season. I signed Wilson from Liverpool and he is amazing at left back. This season I got past the group stages quite convincingly but was brought down to earth by Atleti. I have also found that a diamond formation works quite well. I have N'Zonzi a Dm and a Brazillian on the point with Ashley Young and Martin Olsson on the wings. Kalinic is also in great form and is my top scorer with 17 and it is only February.

After coming 5th that season I did the treble of Europa league, EPL and FA cup I also then on the Super cup and signed Pastore who is talismanic in my current season with 4 in 4

OMG LOVE KALINIC

Just started a game with blackburn after not being able to really get into any other saves.

Will post screen shots tomorrow if anyone wants me to but transfers:

IN

Alex Smithies - 600k

Mikael Lustig - 1.5m

Anthony Annan - 3m

Lee Cox - 875k

Alexandre N'Gadi - Free

Nampalys Mendy - 2m (scouts say he will be a lot better than Annan/N'zonzi)

Kim Won-Sik - Free

Joe Mattock - 2.5m

Jo - Loan

Christian Benitez should be joining on the 31st August subject to work permit for 1.4m and i also have Connor Wickham (3m) and Yayo Sanogo (4.5m) joining at the end of the season, couldn't sign now as they failed medicals, but i know they will turn out well anyway.

Out

Mark Bunn - 925k - Newcastle

Keith Andrews 2.5m - Fulham

Jason Brown - 1.5m - Arsenal

Vincenzo Grella - 2.9m - Porto

Jason Roberts - 550k - Stoke

Michel Salgado - 425k - Stuttgart

Jake Kean - loan - Bury

Brett Emerton - loan - Rubin

Herold Goulon - loan - Mallorca

Mixed start to the season, playing 4-4-2

Lost 3-0 away to wolves, lost 3-2 away to Man City (last minute winner) played the kids against Barnsley in the league cup and got beat 1-0 to a wonder goal, and then, somehow, managed to thrash Arsenal 5-0 at home in the league. Mame Biram Diouf scoring 4! Currently 12th.

Current first team

GK - Robinson

DL - Mattock

DR - Lustig

CB - Samba

CB - Jones (Givet & Nelson injured)

ML - Olssen

MR - Diouf

MCL - Annan (Ball winner defend)

MCR N'Zonzi (ball winner support)

ST - Kalinic

ST - Diouf

Next up, newcastle at home.

After reading through this thread. I decided to take on the challenge of managing my beloved club Blackburn Rovers. I'm just coming up to the end of my first season and boy what a season it's been!

My Current Line up is:

GK. Robinson

LB. Givet

CB. Samba

CB. Nelsen

RB. Emerton

LM. Olsson

CM. Pedersen

CM. Jones

RM. Hoilett

FC. Kalinic

FC. Benitez

I bought Christian Benitez for 1.5M and after 31 PL Games, he has scored 33 Goals in all competitions. Kalinic has scored 25 goals. I am currently 1st in the PL, 7 points clear of Chelsea. I have scored 68 goals and only let in 19. My only concern is the amount of yellow cards, I have had 59! I also won the League Cup against Man City! The FA Cup eluded me as I put out a young squad and got beat off Doncaster 5-4 in the third round. The inexperience of the side showed in the second half as I was 2-0 up at half time.

As I'm coming up to the end of the season; I am thinking about replacing Givet and possibly Pedersen. I am also looking to put Jones in his natural central defence position as Nelsen is approaching the end of his career. Not so sure who to put in his position as central defensive midfield, I was thinking Steven Defour?

Is there any realistic targets I can replace Givet with?

I would upload screenshots, but alas I don't know how!

COYB!

I would upload screenshots, but alas I don't know how!

Check the Forum FAQ thread.

Try Jack Hobbs or Scott Dann both would be great. If you have some dollars to spend the Ryan Shawcross.

samba's a beast

he's got 20 goals in all compy for me during my 1st season

Well done! Samba can be devastating at set pieces.

A bit of advice for anyone starting out with Blackburn: Hoilett is an average winger, but a pretty darn good striker. I loaned him in for my West Ham team because my first season budget was dire. I played him as a rotation winger before switching him to striker with a poacher role when my strikers got injured/lost form. Hoilett turned out as a bit of a surprise revalation in this position. He bagged himself considerably better than 1 in 2 and makes himself at least 2 1v1 cccs in every match due to his ability to beat the offside trap and skin defenders with his pace and dribbling. Also bagged my first and only hat trick (albeit at home v Blackpool) in my first season and helped me to a creditable 8th place, when I was expected to be in a relegation fight.

I just gladly shelled out 8 Mil for the lad, he's only 20 after all and can only improve. His all round stats may not be amazing but he has an eye for goal and is brilliant as part of a counterattacking strategy. He has that combo of pace and dribbling I have looked out for since I first met the beast that was Andri Sigporsson in CM99/00!

Hey guys, just thought I would try out a game with my hometown team because I wanted a good challenge to rule this game:

At the start, I looked at the squad and decided that a left-back and right-back were essential additions and also a striker could be helpful. So here are my transfer dealings for 1st season:

In - Roberto Carlos (from Corinthians - £1.3m), Vaclev Kadlec (from Sparta Prague - £875k), Kyle Walker (from Tottenham - £475k season loan) and Nicolas Nkoulou (from AS Monaco - £375k season loan). A couple of frees were also recruited but were for the future (Gauthier Mahoto & Kim Won-Sik).

Out - Jason Roberts (to Stoke - £800k) and Mark Bunn (to Man Utd - £1.2m). Other players were sent out on loan to gain valuable experience (Linganzi, Banton, Doran, Potts, Kean & O'Connor).

From that, my eventual 1st choice line-up was:

Robinson, Walker, Samba, Givet, Roberto Carlos, Hoilett, Nkoulou, Dunn, Olsson, Kadlec, Kalinic.

Here are some stats from the 1st season:

Top Goalscorer - Samba - 14 (beast on set-pieces )

Top Assists - Roberto Carlos - 14

Highest Average Rating - Samba - 7.42

Most MoMs - Samba - 10

Competiton Summary

In the League, my players achieved the board's expectations of a respectable league position in coming 8th in the Premier League. There was some decent results including draws at Chelsea and Liverpool and also at home, as well as a win at Aston Villa. It was my team's form against the lower order teams that helped the club finish so high in the table:

http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/5246/englishpremierdivisione.jpg

The board expected the club to reach at least the 5th Round of the FA Cup but my players made a mockery of that by winning it instead. The run included an incredible 3-2 victory against Arsenal (2-0 down on 82 mins) and a semi-final defeat of Man City after extra-time with 10 men. In the final, local rivals Bolton were beaten by a Samba tap-in from a Roberto Carlos corner:

http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/9392/boltonvblackburnfacupfi.jpg

The board also expected my players to reach at least the 4th Round of the League Cup but my players took it upon themselves to win this trophy as well. It was a slightly easier run to the final with Sunderland, West Ham and Sheffield United being disposed of. In the final, Newcastle were beaten 3-1 with goals from Olsson, Samba and Kadlec:

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/5286/blackburnvnewcastleleag.jpg

What a great 1st season it was from the team as both domestic cups were won to the unsurprising shock of the board and supporters.

Summer Transfer Plans

I have already arranged a free transfer as Sylvain Marveaux from Stade Rennais FC to give Olsson and Pedersen competition down the left flank. Other positions I'm looking at strengthening include right-back and a striker.

What do you think of my 1st season as Rovers guys? Has anybody had a similar 1st season to me so far on FM11? What other areas of the squad do I need to improve on to make my dream of winning the league and ruling Europe come true?

Any suggestions and feedback much appreciated.

I took charge of Blackburn for whole of 2011/2012 season. The previous season, they finished 1 position above the relegation zone. So I've decided to overhaul the system and signed 13 players.

So for 2011/2012 season, my Blackburn team Overachieved! They finished a great position of 5.

http://img156.imageshack.us/f/season20112012.png/

Signings for the season : http://img251.imageshack.us/f/signings20112012.png/

2012/2013 Season is a season to be forgotten for me.. We finished at an appaling position of 10.

http://img511.imageshack.us/f/season20122013.png/

Signings for the season : http://img525.imageshack.us/f/signings20122013.png/

2013/2014 we make a good improvement by finishing 6th and qualified for ECC

http://img690.imageshack.us/f/season20132014.png/

Signings for the season : http://img638.imageshack.us/f/signings20132014.png/

Ive been enjoying this thread for awhile now and as I always wait until the end of the january transfer window before I start my career game I thought id wait til now to post my first update.

Im just starting pre-season on the second season, 2011/12, with Rovers using a downloaded DB with my own changes taking into account the CA/PA changes provided by the Rovers researcher.

I always disable transfer budgets at the beginning of the first season, gives it more of a sense of reality.

Because of this the only player i brought in during preseason 2010/11 was a left back, Giovani Pasquale , on loan from Udinese and in January i purchased Fernando Tissone, a passing defensive mid from Udinese and Sampdoria for a combined £1.8mil.

I play a 4-2-3-1 formation with 2 holding midfielders(Jermaine Jones & N'Zonzi/Tissone, 2 flying wingers(Olsson & Hoilett with Gamst & Mame Diouf backing up) and Dunn/Formica playing in the hole behind RSC, when fit, or Kalinic.

Its pretty good defensivly, actually its very good, as I ended up conceding only 24 league goals!

It was a great first season, I ended up finishing second, 4 points behind Arsenal and 3 points ahead of Spurs in 5th winning 23, drawing 5 and losing 7.

I lost on penalties to Nottm Forest in the League Cup quarters and to Man City in the FA Cup.

Olsson ended up with 22(!!!) assists and 9 goals, Kalinic with 22 goals and 9 assists and Samba with 14 goals in all competitions(Gotta love corners!)Dunn and Formica scored 19 and created 13 goals between them.

Now, onto the 2011/12 season.

Ive got a couple of absolute bargains, was offered and got Oscar Cardoza for £3.2mil(!!!), Garra Dembele(ST) for £1.9mil, Juan Albin from Getafe for £4.5mil and David Ospina(GK) from a relegated Nice for £2.7mil(Was given a £18mil kitty including player sales, Andrews/Bunn/EHD/Goulon/Brown) and also brought in Oscar Wendt and and Jeremy Morel(Swedish & French LBs) and Jirl Kladrubsky(Czech DM) on free transfers. Am negotaiting for Camilo Zuniga, a Columbian D/WBR from Napoli.

My starting 11 and bench for the second season will be

..............Ospina............

Zuniga....Samba....Givet....Wendt

.......Tissone....Kladrubsky.....

Albin.........Dunn........Olsson

............Cardoza........

Robinson

Morel

P Jones

N'Zonzi

Formica

Hoilett

Kalinic

playing as my boys on 11.3. 4-5-1 essentially

no transfer window in july, in jan I brought in

Romaric (loan)

Van Bommel (loan)

Lamela 5mil

Santana (loan)

Trika (loan)

so far Hoilett has been awful but I will keep him because he's good pa. Jones looks a beast. I lost in the final of the CC but managed to get FA Cup final also!!! I'm 11th atm.

top 3 players

RSC, Samba, N'Zonzi

Lamela and Santana have been very good. Formica has talent...

Currently playing with Rovers in 11.3 playing a 4-4-2 formation. Kalanic , Samba and N'Zonzi have been great. Phil Jones , Potts , Josh Morris and Grant Hanley look the good as youngens.

Started a new save a few days ago, shipped Salgado, Grella and Roberts out and brought in Defour for 7m quid and Chidi Odiah for a small loan fee. Playing a 4-2-3-1 with Defour as the AMC playmaker and he's been ace so far! Currently sitting in 8th after 11 games, I'll post pictures when I find the time.

Started a game as Blackburn as they are my home town.

Players in. Xherdan Shaqiri who is amrl for 4 million. bought Vaclav Kadlec for 800k.

Players out. Sold Holiett for 7.5 m in the january transfer window. Sold Andrews, Givet in January, Jason Roberts, Gamst Pederson, and some more reserved team players.

Finished 7th in the league 1st season just outside the european places. Best player Jones and Samba in the heart of defence.

Start of second season, sold Olsen as he wanted to leave for 10 million to Inter. Bought Alex Smithies in goal. Lukaku up front for 2.5 million. Dedric Boyata from Man City to cover for Samba and Jones as Nelson is getting on. Also bought Romario the rb for 300k, Nampalys Mendy for DMC position, Connor Wickham up front, Terence Makengo on a free. Lucas Digne for left back, Jordan Spence for RB and got Bodmer on loan for midfield. Its January and im 2nd in the league behind Man Utd by 6 points. Hoping to make it in to the top four for europe.

Team . GK: Smithies DL. Digne. DR. Spence. DC Samba DC Jones, DMC Mendy. MC Bodmer MC Formica. AMR. Shaqiri . AML Kadlec SC. Lukaku

Subs. Kalinic, Nzonzi, Wickham, Robinson, Romario, Dunn, Diouf, Makengo, Boyata, Nelson, Salgado and Billington.

As you can see I like to buy the best youngsters available and improve them.

Lukaku has been a bit dissapointing but hes only 18 and Kalinic is playing well.

What transfer budget do you get at the start of the game on 11.3?

Matt UK

Decent money for Hoilett, but he turns out very good so might have been a slight mistake letting him go.

How do you have Kadlec set on the wing?

Very good deal for Lukaku as well. Dont know how you done it, but thumbs up . What role do you use him as?

Im just about to start my 2nd seaseon with Blackburn, Our first season was superb, Finishing 5th in the leauge and winning the leauge cup on a penalty shootout with City. I play a flat back 4 with 3 central mids, 2 attacking wide players and 1 striker. We achieved this with the basic squad, No new players brought. Klanic in particular with hoilett was outstanding. Klanis scored 20 goals and hoilett got 10 with twenty assists.

Just started my 2nd season, Played 2 games won 2.

Players In

Joe Mattock-West Brom 2.5m

Owen Hargreaves-Man U Free

Feranado Cavaneghi 1.6m

Gabriel Obertan Man U 5M

Zabaleta Man City Loan

Were also through to the group stages of Uefa Cup.

Well guys, after a remarkable and hugely successful 1st season in charge, the 2nd season was always going to be hard for the club. Let's see what happened:

Looking at the squad in the summer, the areas that I was looking towards strengthening included right-back, central midfielder and striker. A new goalkeeper would also be good for the future. Therefore, here are my transfer dealings for 2nd season:

In - Jozy Altidore (from Villarreal - £2.9m), Borja Valero (from West Brom - £2.3m), Alan Hutton (from Tottenham - £2m), Fernando Gago (from Real Madrid - £1.8m) and Diego Contento (from Bayern Munich - £1.3m). There were a few frees including Marveaux, Amelia, Hamit Altintop and Postiga plus youngsters Zezinho and Christian Derflinger.

Out - Morten Gamst Pedersen (to Sampdoria - £5m) and free transfer departures including Khizanishvili, Rigters, Chimbonda and Salgado. I have also loaned out players to gain valuable experience (Hanley, Potts, Doran, Banton and Morris.

From this, the 1st choice line-up eventually was:

Amelia, Hutton, Samba, Givet, Contento, Altintop, Gago, Valero, Olsson, Kalinic, Altidore.

Here are some stats from the 2nd season:

Top Goalscorer - Altidore - 27 (absolute beast!)

Top Assists - Valero - 24 (wow, just wow)

Highest Average Rating - Kalinic - 7.48

Most MoMs - Altidore - 10

Competition Summary

In the League, the players did better than last season's finish of 8th by finishing 7th, meaning the players matched expectations of quailfying for Europe in the League. There was a massive result against then champions Man Utd, winning 1-0 at Old Trafford. But on the whole, it was very inconsistent with the lower teams with the prime example being a 7-0 trashing of West Brom followed by a 1-0 defeat at home to strugglers Portsmouth:

http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/5246/englishpremierdivisione.jpg

After last season's cup exploits, the club ventured into European competition for the first time under myself with the board's expectations being that the players had to qualify for the knockout stages. A tough looking group of Sevilla, FC Utrecht and Dnipro was negotiated with one game to spare with a home and away double over Sevilla being the highlight.

Into the knockout stages, the players destroyed both Kobenhavn and Dynamo Kyiv to reach the quarter-finals. There, the first real test arrived in the form of Italian outfit Udinese. Kalinic scored the only goal of the home leg and in the second leg, Altintop scored early on to leave Udinese needing three goals to go through. In the end, two was all they managed and my team were in the semi-finals. German side Stuttgart provided the opposition in the last four. Goals from Altidore and Kalinic gave us a very clear advantage going to Germany but it still needed an away goal from Samba as the players lost their discipline, losing 3-1 on the night but going through on away goals

It was time for the final in Bucharest where another German outfit, Leverkusen were waiting. The team led at the interval through Kalinic but there was heartbreak in the second period as a Mori double secured the trophy for Leverkusen:

http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/1263/leverkusenvblackburneur.jpg

The domestic cups won in last season were always going to be hard to retain. And so it proved as in the FA Cup as after eventually defeating West Ham, the players were beaten by Man Utd at Old Trafford.

In the League Cup, the players comfortably thrashed Accrington before a sensational 2-1 victory at Man Utd. The high was lowered in the next round at Tottenham 3-0.

Overall, I thought it was a decent 2nd season. We did slightly better in the League and almost went all the way in Europe only to fall just short in the end. The failure in both domestic cups didn't really annoy the board following the remarkable run in Europe.

Summer Transfer Plans

Looking at the squad, the areas that I am mostly looking at strenghtening include right-back and left-back. These signings would be at least back-ups to the first choices and at best equal.

What do you think of my 2nd season for Rovers guys? It didn't yield any trophies but the club had moved forward with that run in the Europa League. Do you think I've missed out any areas for improvement in my squad?

Any suggestions and feedback much appreciated.

Awesome. I shall definitely be indulging in a Blackburn save. Along with my liverpool, Tottenham and god knows how many other saves i want to do.

Will start in a week or so

love rovers but found it silly as I won FA Cup and CC in first season (but finished about 11th) I ended up with Baines, Coleman, Sanchez, Asamoah (from Udinese) and another I can't quite remember...seemed stupid I had so much to spend.

I normally like to play a few seasons as an average EPL side before i start my ipswich career save, after seeing all the quality youngsters blackburn had I decided to give them a go.

I have neither the skill nor patience to make my own tactics, i normally just download a 442 or 433 from the forums. for the first season i used sparks master 433.

As you'll probably see from the screenshots the thing i enjoy most in FM is buying and selling players, I like to have at least 4-5 new first teamers at the start of each season.

First seasons transfers

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

I knew i had to get rid of robinson, due to his fat frame hes too slow off the line, given that the 433 id be using utilised a high line i needed someone slim and cheap so in came enyeama. I needed someone quick to play with kalanic and hoilett upfront so i got benitez. then came badelj and witsel to play either side of nzonzi.

First team was

enyeama

emerton samba jones olson

witsel nzonzi badelj

holiett kalanic benitez

first season Lt

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

I was aiming for between 5th and 9th furst season, but the team played amazing. I was lucky with injuries and actually if my strikers hadn't had a massive slump from december through to february id have come closer to winning the EPl.

went out of the CC at the 4th round to tottenham, and out of the FA in the 6th round away at man cuty.

result of the season was by far the 4-1 away win at blackpool that saved my season. going in the game without a win in 6 league games and with all my misfiring stikers on very poor morale. I was 1-0 down and down to 9 man at half time, nzonzi and givet both getting sent off. At this point i was ready to start smashing things, but kalanic ran from the half way line to score a wonder goal, he followed up with 2 more for his hat trick and samba scored from a corner to make it 4.

Players of the season were definatley kalinic, holiett and samba. kalanic stuck in 20 in 36 in the league, holiett only got 6 but provided 16 assists and lots of direct running. samba is an absolute monster in defence, unbeatable in the air and quality on the deck too, he also chipped in with 9 goals.

All in all a good first season, the team performed well above expectations. best of all there were lots of big clubs sniffing around my players, which should relate into money to spend for season 2.

Season 2

With champions league qualifacation comes moneey. i knew id get between 6-10M from the stages, plus the 10-20m tv at the end of the season. My bank balance was only 9M or so, but the board gave me 29M transfer budget. I knew i could afford to be 10-15m in the red for most of the season so i arranged quite a few 12-48 month transfers.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Emerton did a good job at RB first season but he was 32 so he had to go. in came vrsaljko to replace him, he looks good enough to be my long term RB so a snip at 5m + 5m over 24.

I brought in fellani to play as my defensive midfielder, i like nzonzi butt felt he needed another season to round out his stats before he was ready to be a world beater. i got kranjcar to replace witsel. theres a lot of people raving about him in the tottenham thread, plus he has really all round stats.

After my strikers had misfired so badly in season 1 i wanted a whole new strike force. out went holiett and benitez, in came canales, benzema and neymar. neymar cost me 5m plus 25 over 48m, but i love watching him do crazy dribbles on ME. benzema was on the transfer list, i was hoping his high comp and finishing would do the job. canales i re-trained to striker, his high composure should make up for low finishing and his high creat/tech/flair/passing should make lots of chances for benzema.

my team for the season

enyeama

vrsaljko samba jones olsonn

badelj fellani kranjcar

neymar benema canales

The plan was to have the creative canales and the fast and tricky neymar providing chances for benzema to tuck away. with my improved midfield better able to keep possesion, i also had the aerial threat of fellani and the shooting power of kranjcar.

As it turned out neymar was **** poor, a lot of dribbles but little end product. benzema was also struggling for goals, but getting a few nice assists. canales was getting a lot of assists but very few goals, on the plus side he went from a competent to a natural striker inside half a season.

It was a good job that kalanic stepped up this season. after neymar got injured i moved benzema out to the right and stuck kalanic down the center. he responded with 2 goals, and ended the season with 39 in 48, thus relegating neymar to the bench and eventually transfer list.

I was aiming for top 2 this season, the big problem being torres at chelsea was just killing teams. with the added pressure of champions league my squad was a little stretched, despite all the loan signings.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

In the end i was happy enough with 3rd place and CL football again. I went out of the CC in the 3rd round away at Derby, but tbh i was happy to have one less fixture to worry about. had a really easy run in the FA cup, beat milwall, man u, sunderland, stoke and tottenham on the way to meet villa in the final. After going 1-0 down i recovered to win 4-1 thanks to goals from samab, kalanic, olsonn and ramsay.

I went out to liverpool in the CL Qfs, reina killed me and made me realise that i needed a keeper who would perform in the big games.

Game of the season was the 4-1 away win at roma in the CL last 16. After losing at ewood 2-1 i was pretty worried but we destroyed them with thanks to a canales hat-trick and a goal from nzonzi.

players of the season were kalanic, canales and once again the beastly samba. kalanics goals were a god send, canales only scored 6 in 39 but chipped in with 28 assists and samba was a rock at the back once again.

just started the 3rd season and im looking good for the league.

I find it ludicrous that you can sign those players for Rovers, this is what i'm going to try and avoid in my next save. it feels 'wrong'

I find it ludicrous that you can sign those players for Rovers, this is what i'm going to try and avoid in my next save. it feels 'wrong'

How is it ludicrous, it is similar to reality. They are linked with world-class players because of their owners