FM11: Connor Wickham

Full name: Connor Neil Wickham

Club: Ipswich Town FC

Date of Birth: 13/3/1993

Place of birth: Hereford

Position: ST

In real Life:

Connow Wickham made his debut for Ipswich town at the age of just 16 years and 11 days, he became the youngest ever Ipswich player. Wickham is regarded as a great prospect by the Ipswich town coaches, possibly the best player to come out of their youth academy since Darren Bent. He's been in and out of the side under Roy Keane, mainly due to injuries, but when he has played he's shown the strength and ability that could see him become a leading Premiership striker one day. He has been a regular in the England youth setup, helping the England U17 team to win the U17 European Championship this summer, scoring in the final. He has since been linked with moves to Tottenham and Arsenal, and it is just a matter of time before he is in the Premiership, either with Ipswich or another club, and if he continues to progress, an England call may not be far away...

In FM.

CA/Pa

Can be signed for around £3m at the end of the first transfer window (you have to wait due to his injury at the start). He's performed well above what his stats would suggest for my Chelsea team, playing him as a Target Man (Attack). Here's how he has progressed for me until the start of season 3, I've thumbnailed it for those who don't want to see.

Does anyone else have any experience of this possible future England number 9?

He is an absolute goal machine, and the best bit of course... he is English

very nearly got him for celtic but i didn't fancy his wage demands, he went to man utd for 2.8million but he doesn't seem to be progressing that fast there.

if i get some cash with my cash strapped team i'll buy him and give him a go

I have him coming to Man Utd in the summer (end of season one). Signed him for £1.7M after he became unhappy at Ipswich.

Can't wait to see how he turns out.

Hes fantastic for me, just turned 20 and has England caps. Hes a real handful with his strength, pace and aerial ability. 15 premier league goals last season in just 20 starts.

average for me and cant get into the team, just cant get his stats up

Will buy him, Ipswich offered him to me for £5mill, only enquired once, no tapping up etc. Although i'd like Andy Carroll too, but perhaps Wickham is the better option here

Picked him up after the first season with Arsenal for 3M, played him a bit in the second, and he scored 11 goals for me, some of which were incredibly important ones.

Definitely worth it.

Playing as Ipswich at the moment (as i live here!!), first season we got promoted as Champions he got 15 goals in 25 games. In February in the premiership (2nd season) and so far he's got 5 goals (my top scorer only has 8) so he's done ok so far and is improving. I should survive my first campaign so it will be interesting to see how he goes given another season (assuming i can hang onto him!!).

Both Man U and City sniffed around last season but nothing this year as yet!

Him and Andy Carroll could make an exciting english striking partnership in this game

I find he's better paired alongside a small, pacey, creative striker than a big target man. He seems to provide a lot of assists as well as goals when played as a Target Man (attack) alongside someone like Aguero or Neymar, so for England I use him alongside Walcott or Agbonlahor

Anyone got any screenshots of what his attributes look like several years down the line?

Anyone got any screenshots of what his attributes look like several years down the line?

You must be either very keen on Connor or you are indeed Connor.....7 years on this site and this is your 1st post

Something like that

Been a while since I've posted, and not since the forum migrated onto this version of the forum. Think my post count must have been reset at that time. Wouldn't have been that much higher anyways

I came here to make a post about him and found one already made -)

Brought him to West Ham at the start of season two for 1.4mil with plans to see how he developed cause my scouts rated him.

Gave him his debut in the league cup and he bagged a brace.

Kept him in the side next game and he finished the season with 23 appearances (Many as a sub), 11 goals, 4 assists and 5 MoM. His overall rating was 7.36.

And all that for a team that only finished 11th in the league.

Connor in 2015 for my Newcastle side. He's not a regular starter as Dzeko and Balotelli are my current strike partnership, but he's been good coming off the bench and has gotten his first England cap and International goal this season.

Got him for £1.7m in my Leeds game in the summer of 2011. Looks good so far but shall but easing him in slowly this season and next before properly unleashing him.

His long throw ability is tricky as he's so good in the air. Do you use him as a long thrower or you have him in the box during throw ins?

Got him at the start of season 2 with Coventry, did alright at first, contributing to me getting promoted in the 3rd season. 4th season he was quite poor, but I'm in mid-September in season 5 and he's already got 6 PL goals and playing out of his skin. Got him playing as a deep-lying forward (attack) as the lone striker, with him also set as the target man and the supply being 'run onto ball'. Used to favour 'to feet' for him, which didn't have great results, but forgot to change the supply having had my pacey striker up front and Wickham bagged a brace in the first match. Also turned his long shots down to 'rarely' as he's woeful at them.

And I don't use him as my throw in taker, favour full backs doing that job. Besides, most of the long throws on this don't beat the first man.

Just signed him for £4.2M under the noses of Chelsea. He is dubbed the new Alan Shearer, so should turn out good. May have paid over the odds, but I am keen to get him developing and to make him reach his potential so I can have the next Shearer in my side (Shearer being the player I grew up admiring).

Any suggestions who I could get to tutor him, as I would prefer his determination up a little and I have a feeling his Professionalism and Ambition arent the best as he is only rated as fairly determined meaning (Determination = 15-17) or (Determination = 18-20 & Ambition < 10).

Any suggestions who I could get to tutor him.

Well mentioning what club you're at might help.

Newcastle? If it is then retrain Smith upfront and use him

Sorry, I am Reading and in the first season, but was thinking of bringing someone in if necessary. My current strikers (Hunt, Church, Long) aren't really up to tutoring I don't think, so may need to bring in an experienced player just for the purpose of tutoring him.

Noel Hunt looks like a very good tutor.

I've started a career as Ipswich manager and obviously have Wickham in my squad. However, he's just not performing at all with just a handful of goals and average rating of 6.8ish over halfway through the season, i've tried him as a lone front man and also with a number of partners but he just doesn't perform.

I have Leigh Griffiths and a couple of loanee strikers from Arsenal (Bruno and Wellington Silva) and they're all performing better and i'm currently top of the Championship. Arsenal are showing a minor interest so i'm considering offloading him for big bucks if i can, to fund some signings for my impending first season in the Premiership (hopefully).

Anyone got any tips on how best to play him to give him one last shot before i get rid?

couple of questions what role do you play wickham and how many games does he feature until you see improvements in his stats because i brought him in my first season and he featured like 10 times about 7 times of the bench

I've started a career as Ipswich manager and obviously have Wickham in my squad. However, he's just not performing at all with just a handful of goals and average rating of 6.8ish over halfway through the season, i've tried him as a lone front man and also with a number of partners but he just doesn't perform.

I have Leigh Griffiths and a couple of loanee strikers from Arsenal (Bruno and Wellington Silva) and they're all performing better and i'm currently top of the Championship. Arsenal are showing a minor interest so i'm considering offloading him for big bucks if i can, to fund some signings for my impending first season in the Premiership (hopefully).

Anyone got any tips on how best to play him to give him one last shot before i get rid?

Is this your first season you're currently in and how much are Arsenal willing to pay for him and what role are you playing him as?

I signed him on loan from Liverpool in the fifth season, he didn't do all that well in the Prem, scored I think 7 or 8 goals in about 35 apps. In the sixth season Liverpool wanted shot of him so I managed to sign him permanently for 2.8 million quid. What a bargain! He blossomed in that season, finishing runner-up in the top scorers with 26 goals. Played him as a poacher on the right side of a two man attack, devastating.

Cheers.

Is this your first season you're currently in and how much are Arsenal willing to pay for him and what role are you playing him as?

Yeah, i'm still in the first season, Jan transfer window just closed so i'm keeping him until the end of the season. He's valued at £1.7m and the transfer rumours say Arsenal and now Man City too could offer £5.75m. I had been playing him as a Target Man with mixed supply because of his good aerial ability and pace. I've switched him to be a deep lying forward, but still set as my target man with mixed supply and have had 2 much improved performances from him since.

got him for everton, never gotten out of the reserves...very average, hasnt improved hardly at all ...3 seasons in now

He's a decent player. Probably mid table of the premier league for me. He's not good enough on my current save so I've got him unregistered in the reserves and will sell him in the window. He's nothing special and his stats don't improve much at all.

Is his PA variable on the game?

Is his PA variable on the game?

....................Yes

He's from Ipswich, trash can much? Wouldn't buy him if they paid me.. :o

He's from Ipswich, trash can much? Wouldn't buy him if they paid me.. :o

Well, you'd be missing out.

Anyone got him to play for Ireland?

Well, you'd be missing out.

Looking amazing there. How did you get him to develop so well?

He needs regular first team football from the very first season, it's the only way. I also guess I got lucky with his PA.

Interesting, playing as Ipswich and he was not that good for me 1st season, we got promoted by Scotland & Priskin got most of my goals. I did play him a fair bit, either as sub or cover.

Now in the Prem and I play him again as cover/rotation, he is doing a bit better in terms of goals per game but still about the 4th or 5th best Stiker in my squad.....I have Welback on Loan, Arajao (spelling?) Priskin, erm some decent mexican and some guy terrance Magenro or something, hmmm why can I never remember the names! I have alot of young and very promising stikers, inc Wickham, all at simailr level so just depends on who bangs in the most as to who plays most

Still I will keep playing him as sub/rotation and hope he keeps getting better, signed him up on a long term deal now.

I'm Burnley in the Championship and just beat United to his signature

Need to get him on a special training regime, shame I haven't got any superstars to tutor him atm.

Connor Wickham in my save, key to fulfilling his potential is playing him straight from season 1

Wickham has had a long time with me but has never been a consistent scorer in my side. He's certainly useful, but just doesn't score enough for my liking. He's part of the 2nd forward line at my club, which is the two strikers I usually bring on in around the 55th minute (when I can) he can bully defenders about and be a threat in the air but he just doesn't beat his man and score even though he has the pace to do this.

A different playstyle would obviously be much better suited to him than my 4-4-2 but I keep him because he has low wage demands (around 25 - 30k a week for a while now) and will chip in with 5 - 10 goals a season which isn't too bad for a £3m striker.