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SnakeXe

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They should be rewarded, if anything!

What?

That's right, your friend and mine SnakeXe is back for another lengthy career- and relationship-threatening Football Manager save! With FM12 coming out and a PhD to study for I thought I'd treat to myself to a new computer for both purposes, which means for the first time I can have a proper crack at a journeyman game with a good number of leagues loaded. For those who haven't read my career threads before (although you still can, here and here), I like to play the game in a fairly realistic manner, only signing players my scouts have recommended, no third party tools, etc etc. Now finally I can treat my career development in the same way, instead of being a one-club man.

I've holidayed the first season to give me a choice of the clubs newly promoted to the Blue Square North and South in England. The idea is basically to progress as I would do were this my real-life career, with the set of aims detailed in the following section - hopefully if all goes well I can tick them off like achievements as I go.

Aims

  • Win promotion
  • Win a cup competition
  • Manage my current local side, Bath City
  • Win a top-level league
  • Win a top-level cup competition
  • Manage the side I support, Newcastle United
  • Win a trophy with Newcastle United
  • Win a European title
  • Win top-level league titles in all of the "big five" European leagues - England, Spain, Italy, Germany and France
  • Win a top level league title in another continent
  • Win a top level cup competition in another continent
  • Win a continental competition in another continent
  • Win a top level league title in all five continents
  • Win a top level cup competition in all five continents
  • Win all five continental competitions
  • Win an international competition
  • Win the World Cup
  • Win the World Cup with an Asian or African nation

"Social" Media

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/SnakeXe

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/Snakexe

The Technical Rubbish

Leagues Loaded

Medium database with the following leagues:

Country         | Lowest League Loaded
-------------------------------------------
Argentina       | Second Division
Australia       | A-League
Brazil          | Second Division
China           | First Division
England         | Blue Square North/South
France          | National
Germany         | Third Division
Holland         | Jupiler League
India           | National Football League
Ireland         | First Division
Italy           | Serie C2
Mexico          | Promotion League
N. Ireland      | Second Division
Portugal        | Second Division
Russia          | First Division
Scotland        | Third Division
South Africa    | National First Division
South Korea     | N-League
Spain           | Second Division B
USA             | MLS
Wales           | Premier League

A total of 51 leagues across 22 nations and 5 continents - should be a good challenge for my new computer! Speaking of which:

Computer Spec

  • Intel i7 Processor
  • nVidia GTX 560 Ti 1GB GPU
  • 12GB RAM
  • 120GB SSD

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Thanks guys, think this is more feedback than I got in the entire first 5 pages of my last career and I haven't even picked a club yet!

Speaking of which, I'm visiting my parents this weekend so only have my laptop with me - I'll at least try and get started with a club but probably won't get to competitive football before I get back.

Have you just gone for a large database or custom?

It's a medium database - I'll edit that in to the OP.

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Weymouth.jpg

Name: Weymouth F.C.

Nickname: The Terras

Founded: 1890

Stadium: The Bob Lucas Stadium, 6600 (960 seated) capacity

Status: Semi-Professional

From Wikipedia:

Weymouth Football Club were founded in 1890 and played their first game on 24 September of that year. Nicknamed 'The Terras' almost immediately, due to their terracotta strip, the team won the Dorset Junior Cup for the first three seasons, becoming a senior club as the team rose in stature.

I misjudged the league reset date, so had to make a choice between the teams who had already come up. I was half planning to take St. Albans, but as they hadn't come up, I decided to go to the south coast and Weymouth F.C. I have somewhat of a tie to the place, as I've actually been there quite a few times, something the likes of Billericay and Wealdstone could not boast!

The squad is relatively complete in terms of numbers, but clearly quality is an issue for a newly-promoted side. Also, there doesn't appear to be a single player capable of playing MC - interesting!

Next update will be on the eve of the season opening, taking a look at the squad and board expectations - as well as what I think is achievable.

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2012 UEFA European Championship

Group Stage:

Group A:

 | Pos   | Inf   | Team    |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1st   | Q     | Ukraine |       | 3     | 2     | 1     | 0     | 5     | 3     | +2    | 7     |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2nd   | Q     | Turkey  |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 4     | 3     | +1    | 6     |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 3rd   |       | Croatia |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 4     | 4     | 0     | 4     |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 4th   |       | Denmark |       | 3     | 0     | 0     | 3     | 2     | 5     | -3    | 0     |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Group B:

 | Pos   | Inf   | Team     |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1st   | Q     | England  |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 5     | 4     | +1    | 6     |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2nd   | Q     | Portugal |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 8     | 7     | +1    | 4     |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 3rd   |       | Poland   |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 5     | 5     | 0     | 4     |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 4th   |       | Sweden   |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 3     | 5     | -2    | 3     |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Group C:

 | Pos   | Inf   | Team    |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1st   | Q     | Holland |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 3     | 2     | +1    | 6     |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2nd   | Q     | Italy   |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 3     | 1     | +2    | 6     |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 3rd   |       | France  |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 3     | 3     | 0     | 4     |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 4th   |       | Ireland |       | 3     | 0     | 1     | 2     | 1     | 4     | -3    | 1     |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Group D:

 | Pos   | Inf   | Team       |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1st   | Q     | Spain      |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 5     | 2     | +3    | 6     |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 2nd   | Q     | Germany    |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 6     | 4     | +2    | 6     |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 3rd   |       | Montenegro |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 2     | 6     | -4    | 3     |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 4th   |       | Russia     |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 4     | 5     | -1    | 3     |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Knockout Stage:

Quarter Final:

Ukraine 0 v 1 Portugal

England 3 v 0 Turkey

Germany 2 v 0 Holland

Spain 2 v 1 Italy

Semi Final:

Portugal 1 v 2 Spain

England 0 v 1 Germany

Final:

Spain 2 v 0 Germany

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SnakeXe's Career - Season 1 Preview - Weymouth F.C.

Board Expectations:

Blue Square Bet South - Safe Mid-table Position (minimum of Avoid Relegation, Predicted 22nd out of 22)

FA Cup - Third Qualifying Round

FA Trophy - Learn from the experience

My Expectations:

Blue Square Bet South - Top-half finish

FA Cup - Not bothered

FA Trophy - Not bothered

Budgets:

Transfer: £0

Wages: £1,970/week (£2,250/week currently)

Balance: £21,057

Squad:

Incredibly young - both my starting wingers and my starting right back are youth players - but that allowed me more wage budget to spend on the little bits of class that should take us to the next level. Overall I'm happy with the squad, and they've done reasonably well in pre-season, just the one loss to League 2 side AFC Wimbledon blotting the copy book. We should survive, and if we keep key men fit and firing, we should do so comfortably.

Key Men:

Goalkeeper/Defence

Loris Karius - GK - Former Man City trainee turned down a return to Germany to join us - could make a huge contribution.

Matthew Blatchford - DRLC - Lucked into this guy being at the club on non-contract terms when I arrived - signed him up to a full contract straight away.

Midfield

Stefan Oakes - MLC - Some experience to guide the youthful talent in the squad, his competency from corners should also be a big help.

Strikers

Corby Dawes - AMC/ST - The guy I'm looking to to score most of the goals. Quick, and a reasonable finisher for the level.

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Season 1: Halfway House Update

My first competitive fixture on FM12 saw us tackle Salisbury away from home. They took the lead early on, but we managed an equaliser through an own goal. We couldn't stem the tide for much longer, though, and two second half goals sent me to a debut defeat.

We immediately hit back with a 2-0 home win over Truro, before losing the next match away at Hayes & Yeading. In fact, the first 5 matches followed the non-League blueprint - win at home, get stuffed away. Luckily we had 3 home matches and 2 away in that time, so we were never too concerned with making a terrible start.

We then turned that form on its head by winning 4-2 away in Dover but only managing a draw against Havant & Waterlooville at home. However, that defeat to Hayes & Yeading was our last for 11 games, so we had a very encouraging start indeed.

That run came to an end with a 1-0 loss away to BSN side Corby in the FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round, a result that clearly knocked our confidence as we were thrashed 3-0 away by Thurrock in the league. A 3-match winning streak put things back on track, but a run of just 2 wins in the next 7 saw us out of the FA Trophy in the first round to league-leaders Woking, and slipping back into mid-table in the BSS, having looked like making an unlikely playoff charge.

All things considered, I'm pretty happy with where we are at the moment, if a little disappointed that our form has tailed off after that excellent 11-game run.

The Good

  • The 11-game unbeaten run
  • Generally looking a good side
  • Creating a good number of chances

The Bad

  • Terrible finishing
  • Karius has been awful at times for no good reason
  • Poor form recently

Results - League Table - Squad

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I was mentioned amongst the possibilities for the Stockport job which came up earlier in the season, and they were top-half of the BSP, so I assume I would have had a shot had I gone for it. I didn't in the end though, thought it was a bit early to change jobs - especially as Bath have been relegated.

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Difficult one.

I'd say it's probably too soon. You need to be at Weymouth for a couple of seasons to build up a reputation before you make a move to a new club.

Tough one though as obviously you'd like to manage them.

In this case, the question is, what would you do in real life, and what do you think is a realistic move?

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SnakeXe's Career - Season 1 - 2012/13

Story of the Season:

Blue Square South - 2nd, Playoff Semi-finalists

After being in a comfortable mid-table position at the turn of the year, we found some form from somewhere and went on a mighty run of 13 wins from 16 games to propel us to a peak of 3 points clear at the top of the table. Unfortunately our luck ran out at that stage, and we lost 3 on the bounce to basically hand the title to Dartford. A win draw and loss from the last 3 games was enough to secure 2nd place however, and if we could rediscover our earlier form we had a great chance to earn promotion.

We drew Truro in the playoffs, a side we'd lost to away and beaten at home in the league. I tried to keep things tight in the away leg, and they seemed to be working early on as we stifled their attacks, and nicked the opener from a corner. Eventually the fact that we couldn't pass the ball 5 yards caught up with us, and we went 2-1 down. Luckily we grabbed a lucky goal back with 10 minutes to go to take a draw back to The Bob Lucas Stadium.

Another dire game followed, the one shot on target from either side coming from us in the 70th minute. The 0-0 meant extra time, and extra time that mirrored the match meant penalties.

With our 4th penalty, we took a 3-1 lead, meaning if we scored ours or they missed any of their penalties, we'd go through to the final.

We missed, they scored.

We missed the next one, they scored. Game over.

FA Cup - Lost in 4th Qualifying Round (v Corby)

Wins over from-outside-the-playable-leagues sides Frome and Enfield Town were good; a limp 1-0 defeat away to BSN strugglers Corby was not.

FA Trophy - Lost in 1st Round (v Woking)

We beat Bishop's Cleeve more comfortably than the scoreline suggests in the qualifying round, but then lost badly to eventual playoff winners Woking in the first round proper.

Results 1 - Results 2 - Squad

Transfers - Broke even

A whole load of frees. Best signing was probably Nathan White, you can take your pick for the worst. Karius is mine, worst 5* player ever.

Finances

Surprisingly good, for a non-league side.

5 Most Important Players:

5. Ross Simpson - DR - Solid enough.

4. Daniel Ball - AMC/ST - Equal top scorer, despite being a bit rubbish.

3. Stefan Oakes - MLC - Leading assist maker from the centre of the park. Tailed off badly.

2. Nathan White - ST - The other of the equal top scorers, we probably would have won the league if he hadn't been badly injured. That's not to say he's that good, just the rest were abysmal.

1. Matthew Blatchford - DRLC - The leader at the back, also contributed with goals at set-pieces.

History:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Season  | Team            | League                | Country      | Position | Notes                                     |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2012/13 | Weymouth        | Blue Square South     | England      | 2nd      | Playoff Semi-finalists                    |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next Season:

Despite nearly winning the league our squad is very poor. If I can find a good striker then the rest probably won't matter, that's how it is at this level. We've got a couple of very promising young wingers, so building the team around them might be sensible. Operation find-a-big-lump-to-aim-at ho!

My feeling at the moment is if we can win promotion, unless it's absolutely spectacular BSP-beware sort of stuff, I'll probably leave at the end of my contract.

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Cheers guys, glad you're enjoying so far!

Tactics wise it's very simple - a rigid 4-4-2 with the emphasis on getting quick passes to the strikers so they can get within shooting range before being closed down (because even without being closed down... well, let's just say they should put down a tarp if they ever go to the sperm bank).

All default roles except wide midfielders swapped to wingers, with "cross from" set to mixed, as by the time they've beaten the full back sometimes the opposition has 9 other men behind the ball, plus the advanced forward swapped to poacher, although that didn't work particularly well so I think I'll change that for next season.

Team instructions are all standard except a rigid philosophy, less freedom and direct passing.

When it works well it's brilliant direct football. Unfortunately with players of this calibre it's sometimes a lottery.

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Thanks guys, and glad you enjoyed the last thread arinceo.

Yeah I used 4-4-1-1 and 4-5-1 as alternatives, might switch to the latter for this coming season. Same sort of philosophy, just a slight repositioning of the players.

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Weymouth.jpg

SnakeXe's Career - Season 2 Preview - Weymouth F.C.

Board Expectations:

Blue Square Bet South - Top-half (minimum of Mid-table, Predicted 16th out of 22)

FA Cup - Third Qualifying Round

FA Trophy - Learn from the experience

My Expectations:

Blue Square Bet South - Playoffs

FA Cup - First Round

FA Trophy - Not bothered

Budgets:

Transfer: £0

Wages: £3,092/week (£3,582/week currently)

Balance: £33,045 (+£11,988 compared to last season)

Squad:

Shipped out most of the guys who disappointed me last season, kept a couple (Karius included) who I thought I could get more from with better coaching (a dedicated goalkeeping coach for one). I have high hopes for a successful campaign, considering the improvement in quality over last season's fare.

Key Men:

Goalkeeper/Defence

Matthew Blatchford - DRLC - Player of the season last time, very good defender for the level.

Midfield

Harry Rubbins - AMC - Came in mid-way through last season and didn't really break into the team, I'm expecting more of him as the most attack-minded of a 3-man midfield.

Ben Davisson - AML - Solid all-rounder of a winger.

Strikers

Darragh Duggan - ST - Hopefully can be the consistent goalscorer we missed last season.

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