Now You Do Not Punish Someone, English Or Otherwise, For Being Rubbish At FM...

**SnakeXe** · 12-12-2011 13:32

Originally Posted by ShyBaldBuddhist

Looking good so far. Did well to top a tough looking CL group

Originally Posted by HotChocolate

Unbeaten in the Champions League is a great achievement with that group

Thanks, I was concerned about getting out of the group when it was drawn so you can understand how happy I was with top spot!

Originally Posted by City2000

Looking great at the halfway stage, good luck for the second half of the season!

Fingers crossed!

Originally Posted by sheeshy

Greatest thread title ever.

Well, I don't mean to boast, but yeah, yeah it is.

Originally Posted by Pangaea

Think you may have played a little too much Football Manager if that's your dinner

What else would one eat with sauteed shoelaces?

**SnakeXe** · 12-12-2011 23:52

SnakeXe's Career - Season 11 - 2022/23

Story of the Season:
1. Bundesliga - 1st
We extended our lead at the top to have a 7-point lead by the time we went to play Leverkusen at the imaginatively-named Leverkusen Stadium. In a display reminiscent of my early days at the club we were eviscerated 4-1, and our hangover from that lead us to chuck away a 1-0 lead away at Mainz to see the lead instantly reduced to 1. A shake-up in personnel saw a return to form, with Gorkem Kacar going medieval on the Bundesliga's hind-quarters with a ridiculous run of 11 goals in 5 starts inspiring us on the way to a 7 game winning run. By the time the run was ended, with a draw away at Kaiserslautern, we had a 4 point lead with two to play, meaning we just had to match Leverkusen's result in the next match to secure the title once again. We went one better, grabbing a 3-2 win over Stuttgart despite Gil's red card, whilst the pharmaceutical-types could only draw.

DFB-Pokal - Quarter-final (lost v Mainz)
A similar loss to last year's against Schalke - domination with no incision.

Champions League - Winners
PSV put up a little more resistance than when I faced them back in the Europa League, but not much more, and we went through fairly easily. The quarter final draw gave us a delicious chance for revenge over last year's conquerors Fiorentina, and we gave them an absolute chasing with a 5-2 win in Italy allowing me to pay them the ultimate insult by resting almost my whole team in the second leg. The backups then completed a humiliating coup de grace by beating them 2-1 on the night!

The semi final saw us take on our great domestic rivals Leverkusen. I was worried, as last time we'd faced them in European competition we'd gotten summarily destroyed despite winning the home leg, but we were certainly a better side since then. We stormed into a 2-0 lead in the home leg, Tainha's wonderstrike opener one of the highlights of the season, before we shipped an irritating away goal on the break. We continued to push forward, and got our just results with a goal in injury time to take a 3-1 lead into the second leg.

My adjusted tactics (burned already by the 4-1 defeat in the league) contained their threat effectively, and eventually their frustration showed as Yunus Gursoy earned himself a second yellow with a petulant hack. From then on we just played keep ball, a 0-0 draw more than good enough for a place in the final against English giants, Manchester United.

They took an early lead through a long range effort from Mazinho, before Herrera grabbed an equaliser with half-time looming. Both sides traded efforts, before Cubukcu thumped in a header to give us the lead with 10 minutes left. Annoyingly, that wasn't to be the end of the scoring, as United equalised almost on the dot of 90 minutes, a bad knock to Zimmermann literally hamstringing his efforts to get back. Extra time passed without incident, and penalties loomed.

We traded a pair of successful penalties each before Ramos hit the post for the English side. Ekici kept our 100% record going, with Ryan scoring his for the reds. Baena smashed his in off the post to put the pressure on Molloy, but he kept his nerve to leave it down to the final penalty. Former Man Utd reserve player Moke Cisse was the man, and he didn't disappoint, rifling home to spark wild celebrations!

Results 1 - Results 2 - Squad

Transfers - £21.6M spent
Spent more than I was intending to, but spent pretty well I'd say. Herrera repaid his fee with the goal that won us the Bundesliga, whilst Sanhueza is a class above our other right backs. Even Turmus justified the outlay after a poor first-half to the season.

Finances
Looking very nice now!

5 Most Important Players:
5. Gorkem Kacar - AMC/ST - An incredible run of form just when we needed it earns him a place on this list.
4. Careca - M/AMC - Some stunning goals towards the end of the season, including some crucial ones.
3. Dogan Cubukcu - DC - Incredible break-out season from the young centreback.
2. Tainha - AMC/ST - Back to something approaching his old self at least.
1. Alan Baena - ML/AMRLC - Not quite as spectacular as last season but still great.

History:

Code:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Season  | Team            | League                | Country      | Position | Notes                                                 |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2012/13 | Weymouth        | Blue Square South     | England      | 2nd      | Playoff Semi-finalists                                |
| 2013/14 | Weymouth        | Blue Square South     | England      | 3rd      | Resigned in October                                   |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2013/14 | Darlington      | Blue Square Premier   | England      | 14th     | 15th on arrival in October                            |
| 2014/15 | Darlington      | Blue Square Premier   | England      | 2nd      | Playoff Winners                                       |
| 2015/16 | Darlington      | League Two            | England      | 16th     | Resigned in January                                   |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2015/16 | Southend United | League One            | England      | 21st     | Relegated, 24th on arrival in March                   |
| 2016/17 | Southend United | League Two            | England      | 1st      | League Two Champions                                  |
| 2017/18 | Southend United | League One            | England      | 2nd      | Promoted                                              |
| 2018/19 | Southend United | Championship          | England      | 17th     | Resigned in October                                   |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2018/19 | Wigan Athletic  | Championship          | England      | 4th      | 13th on arrival in October, Playoff Winners           |
| 2019/20 | Wigan Athletic  | Premier League        | England      | 15th     | Left in December                                      |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2019/20 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 8th      | 14th on arrival in December, DFB-Pokal Winners        |
| 2020/21 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 1st      | B'liga Champions, Supercup Winners, EL Semi-Finalists |
| 2021/22 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 2nd      | Supercup Winners, CL & DFB-Pokal Semi-Finalists       |
| 2022/23 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 1st      | B'liga Champions, Champions League Winners            |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next Season:
Not a lot I can do to top that really is there? I'd like to contest the Club World Cup before I leave Werder, but I'll definitely keep an eye open for the next job. Not that I'd be totally averse to staying here another couple of seasons - with some of the youngsters I've brought in since joining starting to mature, it'd be nice to enjoy the fruits of my labours a bit longer - but I feel I've proved myself in Germany now, and there's plenty more leagues and countries to play with.

**SnakeXe** · 12-12-2011 23:56

Former Club Watch:

Weymouth F.C.:

Better than last season, but not by a whole lot.

Code:

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13*  Blue Square South       2nd       Playoff semi-finalists
2013/14*  Blue Square South       9th       I left in October (resigned)
2014/15   Blue Square South       10th      -
2015/16   Blue Square South       19th      -
2016/17   Blue Square South       9th       FA Cup 2nd Round
2017/18   Blue Square South       3rd       Playoff Winners
2018/19   Blue Square Premier     21st      Relegated
2019/20   Blue Square South       14th      -
2020/21   Blue Square South       14th      -
2021/22   Blue Square South       19th      -
2022/23   Blue Square South       18th      -

NB * indicates that I was in charge for at least part of the season.

Darlington F.C.:

Not far off the playoffs.

Code:

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013/14*  Blue Square Premier     14th      I joined in October
2014/15*  Blue Square Premier     2nd       Playoff Winners
2015/16*  League Two              18th      I left in January (resigned)
2016/17   League Two              17th      JPT North Quarter Final
2017/18   League Two              15th      FA Cup 3rd Round
2018/19   League Two              3rd       Promoted
2019/20   League One              22nd      Relegated, FA Cup 4th Round
2020/21   League Two              20th      -
2021/22   League Two              6th       FA Cup 4th Round, Playoff Semifinalists
2022/23   League Two              9th       JPT North Quarter Final

Southend United:

Continuing to be a mid-table mainstay is a real achievement for the shrimpers.

Code:

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015/16*  League One              21st      Relegated, I joined in March
2016/17*  League Two              1st       League Two Winners
2017/18*  League One              2nd       Promoted
2018/19*  Championship            15th      I left in October (resigned)
2019/20   Championship            20th      -
2020/21   Championship            12th      FA Cup 5th Round
2021/22   Championship            9th       -
2022/23   Championship            15th      -

Wigan Athletic:

Survived by the skin of their teeth.

Code:

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018/19*  Championship            4th       I joined in October, Playoff Winners
2019/20*  Premier League          11th      I left in December (job offer)
2020/21   Premier League          18th      League Cup Winners, Relegated
2021/22   Championship            2nd       Promoted, League Cup Quarter-finalists
2022/23   Premier League          17th      FA Cup 6th Round

**Pangaea** · 13-12-2011 07:02

Congratulations with the Bundesliga and Champions League wins. Hard to improve on that achievement. But you'll stay one more year?

**SRL88** · 13-12-2011 07:05

Nice Bundesliga win, but that Hoffenheim relegation has me in tears

.

So one more season and then you think you may be moving to pastures new?

**Deisler26** · 13-12-2011 07:34

Go to France.

**ShyBaldBuddhist** · 13-12-2011 08:36

Great job on the double. Think I'd stay one more year to try and retain the CL, also gives you a shot at the Club World Cup before buggering off somewhere new.

**deadfncat** · 13-12-2011 09:11

Originally Posted by Deisler26

Go to France.

id like to agree but i say head to Asia!

**SnakeXe** · 13-12-2011 09:54

That wondergoal from Tainha I mentioned won Champions League goal of the season!

**SnakeXe** · 13-12-2011 09:58

Originally Posted by Pangaea

Congratulations with the Bundesliga and Champions League wins. Hard to improve on that achievement. But you'll stay one more year?

I'll stay at least until the winter break then start keeping an eye on the job centre.

Originally Posted by SRL88

Nice Bundesliga win, but that Hoffenheim relegation has me in tears

.

So one more season and then you think you may be moving to pastures new?

They weren't actually a terrible side when I played them, just massive problems actually getting the ball in the back of the net.

Originally Posted by Deisler26

Go to France.

Definitely one option!

Originally Posted by ShyBaldBuddhist

Great job on the double. Think I'd stay one more year to try and retain the CL, also gives you a shot at the Club World Cup before buggering off somewhere new.

Thanks! Yeah that sounds a good plan to me as well.

Originally Posted by deadfncat

id like to agree but i say head to Asia!

Probably not yet, although I'm not averse to heading to another continent even at this relatively early stage.

**SnakeXe** · 13-12-2011 11:19

Wow. I might need some help with this one, guys!

Arsenal are the current Premier League holders whose manager moved on to take over the Spanish national side. Clearly the club has some insane resources, and as the manager moved on rather than got sacked they're in a really good position for instant results.

If this offer came in a year I'd snap their hands off. Real tough one.

**noikeee** · 13-12-2011 11:40

Think I'd stay but only because I rate the Club World Cup as the biggest possible achievement, and wouldn't want to miss the chance to win it. It's definitely a tempting offer tho.

Quality work to win the Champions League with Bremen.

**ShyBaldBuddhist** · 13-12-2011 11:41

I'd take it. Sod trying to retain the CL. Premier league champions willing to invest £85m. You will be able to dominate for a while there. Only down side is it would be a return to England.

**noikeee** · 13-12-2011 11:46

Yeah it'd be impossible to refuse in real life, but he's probably going to get good offers a year from now anyway (even if there's no guarantee something this good shows up). All depends on how badly he wants the Club World Cup, really.

**SnakeXe** · 13-12-2011 12:01

Okay let's try a little pros and cons list:

Staying at Werder:
Pros:

Strong, settled squad that I've been building for 3 and a half years
The board love me
Challenging domestic league
Shot at the Club World Cup
Potential to build a dynasty

Cons:

Not much money to spend still
Potential to spoil my legacy with a mediocre season before leaving
A sense that I can't really achieve more without staying for decades

Going to Arsenal:
Pros:

Triumphant return home
Loads of money to spend
Already brilliant squad
Just about the cushiest job I could hope for
A new challenge

Cons:

Might be too easy
Miss out on the CWC
Been here, done that
Tycoon chairman who might be impatient (sacked Avram Grant after less than a year of a 5-year deal had elapsed a few years back, although last two managers have resigned rather than been fired)

Well that didn't really help... haha.

**City2000** · 13-12-2011 12:02

Congrats on a fantastic season!

Thats a tough call, probably depends on how much you are enjoying life at Werder and if you want to lead them into the Club World Championship because that Arsenal job looks mighty tempting!

**ShyBaldBuddhist** · 13-12-2011 12:11

i've had a change of heart. You should turn it down. It would be too easy. Don't see anyway you can fail in the role with a good squad and that much cash. The only reason to return to England now is to meet one of your tagets at the start of the save, managing Bath or Newcastle

**SnakeXe** · 13-12-2011 12:22

As I'm playing the game as realistically as I can, the "too easy" argument is probably a pro rather than a con. In real life you'd jump at any chance to really rake in some trophies, especially at an early stage in your career.

Basically I think it has to ultimately come down to "will I win more trophies and prestige by staying or by going?".

**ShyBaldBuddhist** · 13-12-2011 12:27

Sounds like you have made your mind up. Wish I was getting these kind of offers. I'm getting approached by the likes of Xanthi who aren't even good enough to get promotion from the Greek 2nd league

**City2000** · 13-12-2011 12:32

I think if you are looking at it with a realistic hat on then not many managers in the real world would turn down this Arsenal job. I see you winning plenty of trophies with Arsenal (probably more than at Werder) but I would say you would earn more prestige by winning with Werder.

Looking at your arguments and the fact that you are looking for a realistic approach then I think you have to go to Arsenal.

**SnakeXe** · 13-12-2011 12:37

Yeah I think I have to take it really, given how I've decided to play this save. I'm quite sad to be leaving Bremen but I can't stay there forever.

**SnakeXe** · 13-12-2011 12:49

Name: Arsenal Football Club
Nickname: The Gunners
Founded: 1889
Stadium: Emirates, 60,361 (all-seater) capacity
Status: Professional

From Wikipedia:

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups. Arsenal holds the record for the longest uninterrupted period in the English top flight and is the only side to have completed a Premier League season unbeaten.

Arsenal was founded in 1886 in Woolwich and in 1893 became the first club from the south of England to join the Football League. In 1913, it moved north across the city to Arsenal Stadium in Highbury. In the 1930s the club won five League Championship titles and two FA Cups. After a lean period in the post-war years it won the League and FA Cup Double, in the 1970–71 season, and in the 1990s and first decade of the 21st century won two more Doubles and reached the 2006 UEFA Champions League Final.

Arsenal has a long-standing rivalry with neighbours Tottenham Hotspur, with whom it regularly contests the North London derby. Arsenal is also the third most valuable Association football club in the world as of 2010, valued at $1.2 billion.

So with a heavy heart and great thanks to the Werder Bremen supporters, board, players and staff, for allowing me a platform to make my name in management, I'm off to North London. As you all will have seen, the club has deep pockets, with a Thai tycoon having taken over back in 2015. He's still putting money into the club, with £27m of investments last season alone. I'll be assessing the squad's ability to fit into my favoured 4-2-3-1 system and signing players in any weak areas we may have.

Instead of a new club update I'll just do the usual pre-season update, since I've moved during the summer for once!

**City2000** · 13-12-2011 12:52

Good luck

Should be a lot of fun, hopefully!

**SnakeXe** · 13-12-2011 12:53

My first act as Arsenal boss is to offer all these guys contracts:

Plus launch a bid to bring my assistant from Werder, Steve Round, over with me.

**HotChocolate** · 13-12-2011 15:02

**SnakeXe** · 13-12-2011 15:09

Pipe down son, how many Champions Leagues have you won again?

**HotChocolate** · 13-12-2011 15:13

"I bet you'd not even heard of AS Monaco before I took over them and don't make me laugh saying yes of course, they have a street circuit for the Grand Prix"

**SnakeXe** · 13-12-2011 15:15

I wasn't born when you took over at Monaco

**HotChocolate** · 13-12-2011 15:17

I wasn't even born when he left them

**ShyBaldBuddhist** · 13-12-2011 15:21

You're making me feel old guys. He was still playing when I was born

**City2000** · 13-12-2011 15:35

Originally Posted by ShyBaldBuddhist

You're making me feel old guys. He was still playing when I was born

Same here

although only just I must add

**SnakeXe** · 13-12-2011 15:46

SnakeXe's Career - Season 12 Preview - Arsenal

Board Expectations:
Premier League - Winners (Predicted 1st out of 20)
FA Cup - Winners
Community Shield - Unimportant
League Cup - Unimportant
Champions League - Final

My Expectations:
Premier League - Win it
FA Cup - Have a go at winning it
Community Shield - Give it a good go, to get off to a good start
League Cup - See how the reserves do
Champions League - Based on my assessment of the competition's strength with Werder, we should get to the semi finals without any drama

Budgets:
Transfer: £82,589,385 (£16,610,000 remaining)
Wages: £2,700,840/week (£2,195,414/week currently)
Balance: £25,803,754 (first season at club)

Squad:
Very strong in all areas, and well suited to my tactical approach.

Key Men:
Goalkeeper/Defence
Kenneth Utaka - GK - For all our millions, probably my most important signing on a free transfer.
Yona Sinyangwe - D/WBL - Awesome looking attacking fullback.

Midfield
David Margreiter - M/AMC/ST - Subject of a £38m bid from Barcelona this summer - no chance of me selling though.

Strikers
Mike Kamo - ST - One of those rarest of things - a player who came through the youth academy to take the first team by storm at a big club.

**MattSpurs94** · 13-12-2011 16:04

.................................................. ...............

I shall reluctantly keep on reading.

**abulezz** · 13-12-2011 16:20

LOL at MattSpurs94! Sinyangwe looks fantastic - the type of ability that could make him the best in the world at his position. Good luck with the upcoming season!

**Azeryk`** · 13-12-2011 17:10

Good luck at Arsenal - I had good times there in my save and it will let you collect some more trophies before you find new pastures.

**SnakeXe** · 13-12-2011 20:01

Originally Posted by MattSpurs94

.................................................. ...............

I shall reluctantly keep on reading.

Haha sorry mate!

Originally Posted by abulezz

LOL at MattSpurs94! Sinyangwe looks fantastic - the type of ability that could make him the best in the world at his position. Good luck with the upcoming season!

Yeah he does certainly look the part! Haven't been too impressed thus far though.

Originally Posted by Azeryk`

Good luck at Arsenal - I had good times there in my save and it will let you collect some more trophies before you find new pastures.

Well that's the theory anyway. It's safe to say it's not gone to plan so far. 4 losses in my first 5, and a chronic inability to finish chances. It's like it's 2019 all over again.

**SnakeXe** · 13-12-2011 23:39

I'm just in disbelief with this team. I thought we were turning it around, starting to play some reasonable stuff, then we lost 4-3 to FC Zurich in the Champions League.

Not a huge deal, you might think. Until you consider their previous two results in the competition were 0-9 and 0-8.

**Nobby_McDonald** · 14-12-2011 00:31

I'd have made the move to Arsenal myself.

**ArsenalMetro** · 14-12-2011 04:51

Good move to Arsenal. Sad to see it isn't going well at the start.

**deltablue** · 14-12-2011 10:00

Well, you've earned some cushty.

**Pangaea** · 14-12-2011 10:19

It's a big move that was impossible to turn down really. Shame it's not going to plan from the get go, but I'm sure you can turn it around. Keep the faith fella

**SRL88** · 14-12-2011 11:02

I think you made the right move mate!!!

It would have been very, very tough to retain your European trophy whilst also tossling with the Club World Championship, the League and Cup. Plus, win the European Cup with Arsenal and you will have a shot at the Club World Championship anyway

.

The transfer budget also gives you an option to buy players you would have been priced out of in the past

.

**SnakeXe** · 14-12-2011 11:53

Originally Posted by Nobby_McDonald

I'd have made the move to Arsenal myself.

You can't really turn that sort of move down in the circumstances.

Originally Posted by ArsenalMetro

Good move to Arsenal. Sad to see it isn't going well at the start.

Hopefully it'll turn around - if it does all end up going terribly it'll certainly inform my future career decisions.

Originally Posted by deltablue

Well, you've earned some cushty.

That's what I like to think!

Originally Posted by Pangaea

It's a big move that was impossible to turn down really. Shame it's not going to plan from the get go, but I'm sure you can turn it around. Keep the faith fella

Cheers

Originally Posted by SRL88

I think you made the right move mate!!!

It would have been very, very tough to retain your European trophy whilst also tossling with the Club World Championship, the League and Cup. Plus, win the European Cup with Arsenal and you will have a shot at the Club World Championship anyway

.

The transfer budget also gives you an option to buy players you would have been priced out of in the past

.

Indeed! I can basically pick and choose who I want now, which is a nice luxury. This sort of job is less about winning than about building a team and style of play. Fantasy football, really!

**SnakeXe** · 14-12-2011 11:58

One issue I would like to raise is that Jack Wilshere (who is still at the club) is completely not the player he is in real life on FM. For Arsenal and England he's a deep lying playmaker, and was for the whole of last season. His position should be DM/MC, with all the other AMRLC gubbins as "competent" or whatever. On FM he's just generic tricky attacking midfielder man.

Firstly, is that how you all see him? If so, then is it worth raising in data issues?

**Flamers** · 14-12-2011 12:22

I am disappointed.

**AK22** · 14-12-2011 20:07

Ah, so you're now a Gooner! Good luck, you should be able to clean up with the resources and players available to you.

What's the competition like in the Premier League? Are Chelsea and Citeh both still mega-rich? Three tycoons in one division can only end in disaster for two of their managers!!

**AK22** · 14-12-2011 20:16

Originally Posted by SnakeXe

One issue I would like to raise is that Jack Wilshere (who is still at the club) is completely not the player he is in real life on FM. For Arsenal and England he's a deep lying playmaker, and was for the whole of last season. His position should be DM/MC, with all the other AMRLC gubbins as "competent" or whatever. On FM he's just generic tricky attacking midfielder man.

Firstly, is that how you all see him? If so, then is it worth raising in data issues?

I'm not sure they've got him quite right on FM. He's certainly not an AMC in my eyes, but then I don't think I would class him as DM either. I know he has played this kind of role for a England match (earlier this season,) when they played without a typical holding midfielder, but I think he normally plays a bit further forward than DM for Arsenal.

The thing is with Arsenal, when they're are playing well, their midfield is so fluid, no one player plays the same role for the whole of the match. You could argue that Alex Song is the most defensive minded of the five, but even he still ends up making runs forward. For Wilshere, I would say MC for now, but not sure what FM role I would assign him. Perhaps deep-lying playmaker, but I would up his forward runs, or maybe advanced playmaker on support duty.

**HotChocolate** · 15-12-2011 10:17

Your board don't expect to much do they? Nice to know there is no pressure.

**JoeBainborough** · 15-12-2011 10:42

Just had a read through this, cracking story.

You've worked your way up the leagues very quickly. Keep it up!

**SnakeXe** · 15-12-2011 12:44

Originally Posted by AK22

Ah, so you're now a Gooner! Good luck, you should be able to clean up with the resources and players available to you.

What's the competition like in the Premier League? Are Chelsea and Citeh both still mega-rich? Three tycoons in one division can only end in disaster for two of their managers!!

At the moment, the top four is Chelsea, Spurs, Man Utd, then us in fourth (but quite far behind Chelsea already). City are down in 6th I think. I'd have to check about the tycoons (on my laptop today).

Originally Posted by AK22

I'm not sure they've got him quite right on FM. He's certainly not an AMC in my eyes, but then I don't think I would class him as DM either. I know he has played this kind of role for a England match (earlier this season,) when they played without a typical holding midfielder, but I think he normally plays a bit further forward than DM for Arsenal.

The thing is with Arsenal, when they're are playing well, their midfield is so fluid, no one player plays the same role for the whole of the match. You could argue that Alex Song is the most defensive minded of the five, but even he still ends up making runs forward. For Wilshere, I would say MC for now, but not sure what FM role I would assign him. Perhaps deep-lying playmaker, but I would up his forward runs, or maybe advanced playmaker on support duty.

All sounds about right to me. The reason I mentioned DM/MC is that I see him as a Nuri Sahin/Xabi Alonso type player, and those two are DM/MCs.

Originally Posted by HotChocolate

Your board don't expect to much do they? Nice to know there is no pressure.

I know! Anyone who hasn't won the domestic double and reached the Champions League final... WILL BE FIRED!!!

Originally Posted by JoeBainborough

Just had a read through this, cracking story.

You've worked your way up the leagues very quickly. Keep it up!

Thanks, glad you're enjoying

**HotChocolate** · 15-12-2011 14:25

IT Crowd > Quality.

**SnakeXe** · 15-12-2011 18:29

Well I suppose "constantly fiddling because his expensively assembled team won't play as a unit" doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

**SnakeXe** · 15-12-2011 19:31

Season 12: Halfway House Update

Having won and won well in all pre-season friendlies, I was feeling good going into the season. Then the season started.

In the Community Shield we faced Chelsea, and things started well as we dominated possession, and Chelsea had a man sent off. We then took the lead, only to gift them the win through two soft goals and our own inability to finish. Still, it's only the Mickey mouse shield, who cares, right?

The league campaign then started with three losses (Man Utd (H), Newcastle (A), Liverpool (H)) in the first four games. Irksome.

A good result in the Champions League set us going, and we racked up a few wins, and things were going nicely. In fact we only dropped 9 more points (three draws and a loss) from then until the end of the calendar year in the league. Unfortunately the loss was against Chelsea, who are starting to run away with the league - certainly away from us anyway, a whopping 9 points ahead at this stage. Spurs are the other side ahead of us at the moment, but by a more manageable point plus game in hand.

In the League Cup the reserves have done us proud. Stoke, Man Utd and Liverpool were all dispatched despite them playing some strong selections, and we'll face Championship side Southampton in the semi-final.

In the Champions League we were top seeds, and we drew Valencia, Frankfurt, and FC Zurich. The afforementioned "good result in the Champions League" was a 2-1 win in the Mestalla to kick things off, and we nicked a win at home to Frankfurt to put us in control - especially as FC Zurich had lost their first two games at a combined score of 0-17. If you've been paying attention, you'll know what happened next. Suffice to say we didn't get the desired result. A more sensible approach in the home leg gave us a 3-1 win, and wins in the return matches at home against Valencia (2-1) and away to Frankfurt (5-0) saw us through as group winners.

Unfortunately it's Barca next.

The Good

Results seem to be coming good
We're still in everything important
I've got a couple of signings lined up in January that should make a positive difference

The Bad

Barely any performances have been cohesive - we're where we are on individual ability alone
That start
Chelsea's form

Results - League Table - Squad

**deltablue** · 15-12-2011 19:41

Hope you can catch Chelsea.

**ShyBaldBuddhist** · 15-12-2011 20:36

Good to see you've picked up after a slow start. Won't be easy chasing down Chelsea so good to see you have an easy tie in CL

**Pangaea** · 16-12-2011 11:11

Excellent results really, apart from the chubby start. Hopefully Chelsea run into a brick wall at the end.

**City2000** · 16-12-2011 13:44

Nice recovery after that start, looks like chelsea are just having having one of those great seasons you can't do much about.

**SnakeXe** · 16-12-2011 16:55

Originally Posted by deltablue

Hope you can catch Chelsea.

Originally Posted by ShyBaldBuddhist

Good to see you've picked up after a slow start. Won't be easy chasing down Chelsea so good to see you have an easy tie in CL

Originally Posted by Pangaea

Excellent results really, apart from the chubby start. Hopefully Chelsea run into a brick wall at the end.

Originally Posted by City2000

Nice recovery after that start, looks like chelsea are just having having one of those great seasons you can't do much about.

Thanks guys! Yeah Chelsea will really have to throw it away even at this stage.

**abulezz** · 16-12-2011 16:56

I hate starting slow in a season - they run of bad form seems to stretch for ages!

**SnakeXe** · 16-12-2011 16:56

You know when you feel like you've been smashing your face off a brick wall trying to get your players to play in a certain way, then all of a sudden one match just comes along and everything you've been trying to drill into their stupid Gucci-encrusted heads finally crystallises?

**SnakeXe** · 16-12-2011 17:16

Of course when you then lose 2-0 away to Blackburn in the next game who even knows anymore.

**psychonaut** · 16-12-2011 18:35

Good luck with the rest of the season at Arsenal. If you don't win any trophies, we're allowed to call you Wenger

Fab career read so far.

**Pangaea** · 16-12-2011 18:48

Out of interest, is this "play great against great teams and crap against crap teams" somewhat of a trend?

**deltablue** · 16-12-2011 19:48

Are you sure you're not Liverpool?

**AK22** · 16-12-2011 21:02

Originally Posted by deltablue

Are you sure you're not Liverpool?

We just like giving points to newly promoted sides. We're nice like that

Seriously, seems like you need to try and eradicate some of the complacency that your team has. If you can do that, you'll be flying

**HotChocolate** · 16-12-2011 22:08

The only 2 teams that the fans would want you to finish above, are above you. Poor show. Need to over take Tottenham and Chelsea to cheer people up

**SnakeXe** · 19-12-2011 10:51

Originally Posted by psychonaut

Good luck with the rest of the season at Arsenal. If you don't win any trophies, we're allowed to call you Wenger

Fab career read so far.

Better than "Hutchings" I suppose! Thanks

Originally Posted by Pangaea

Out of interest, is this "play great against great teams and crap against crap teams" somewhat of a trend?

Unfortunately there's absolutely no identifiable trend. We've lost to Chelsea x2, Liverpool, Newcastle, Man Utd, FC Zurich, Boro, Fulham, Villa and Blackburn at the time of writing - pretty much the full spectrum of awesome through mediocre to window-lickers.

Originally Posted by deltablue

Are you sure you're not Liverpool?

Originally Posted by AK22

We just like giving points to newly promoted sides. We're nice like that

Seriously, seems like you need to try and eradicate some of the complacency that your team has. If you can do that, you'll be flying

Well I'm in serious problems if we're being compared to the hubcap hustle

I'm not sure what it is to be honest. We just played Wigan and created 8 CCCs but only put away 2 and conceded a goal on the break to give a nervy last 15 minutes. Sometimes we just won't create any passable chances. If I keep my job over the summer I might just have to take a completely ruthless approach and mould the squad exactly as I want it.

Originally Posted by HotChocolate

The only 2 teams that the fans would want you to finish above, are above you. Poor show. Need to over take Tottenham and Chelsea to cheer people up

With 10 games remaining the Spuds have fallen by the wayside, but Chelsea are still a good way out in front.

**SnakeXe** · 19-12-2011 12:29

I think the Champions League just brings the best out of us. The previous game was a 2-1 home loss against Everton, using exactly the same tactics.

**SnakeXe** · 19-12-2011 14:50

SnakeXe's Career - Season 12 - 2023/24

Story of the Season:
Premier League - 2nd
We may have finished just 3 points from champions Chelsea but we only sporadically looked like ever overhauling their lead, at which point we'd then lose to Blackburn or something. The Chavs finally secured the title with a win in their penultimate fixture.

FA Cup - 3rd Round (lost v Middlesbrough)
Just awful.

League Cup - Final (lost v Aston Villa a.e.t)
Southampton predictably couldn't do much against us in the semi-final, and we conspired to beat ourselves in the final through a crack combination of terrible finishing and comedy defending.

Champions League - Semi-final (lost v Fiorentina)
A great result in the Nou Camp, winning 2-0, spurred us on to a decent run in the competition. We completed the job against Barca with a 1-0 home win, before a great 4-1 aggregate win saw off domestic rivals Chelsea.

Fiorentina were a decent draw in the semi-final, and I tried to emulate the approach that brought me such success in Florence with Bremen. However, I forgot one thing. My Bremen side could defend, whilst this team cannot. We were 3-0 down almost before I'd picked my jaw off the floor at our ineptitude. An Abreu consolation gave us hope for the away leg, which was of course dashed by our shambolic finishing once again as we had just the one late goal to show for 90 minutes of constant pressure.

Results 1 - Results 2 - Squad

Transfers - £95.5M spent
Too much money, too little sense. Berget wasn't my signing, arranged by the previous guy. Don't know why they wasted all that money on him, he's just a bean pole with no footballing ability to speak of.

Finances
Not that they matter when you've got a tycoon in charge.

5 Most Important Players:
Another edition that should be named "5 least awful players".
5. Mahmoud Nagy - AMR/ST - His numbers are okay for a bit part player, but that belied the overall disappointing quality of his play.
4. Hassen Meriah - MRC/AMR - Scored the odd crucial goal, but had runs of games where he was completely anonymous.
3. Kenneth Utaka - GK - Showed enough to suggest he'll be plenty good enough with better protection in front of him.
2. David Margreiter - M/AMC/ST - Good, but wish I'd taken the money when Barca offered me £38m for him. He's not £38m good.
1. Bruno Abreu - AMRL/ST - The only player who I'd go so far as to say had a good season. Won the FWA Player of the Season.

History:

Code:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Season  | Team            | League                | Country      | Position | Notes                                                 |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2012/13 | Weymouth        | Blue Square South     | England      | 2nd      | Playoff Semi-finalists                                |
| 2013/14 | Weymouth        | Blue Square South     | England      | 3rd      | Resigned in October                                   |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2013/14 | Darlington      | Blue Square Premier   | England      | 14th     | 15th on arrival in October                            |
| 2014/15 | Darlington      | Blue Square Premier   | England      | 2nd      | Playoff Winners                                       |
| 2015/16 | Darlington      | League Two            | England      | 16th     | Resigned in January                                   |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2015/16 | Southend United | League One            | England      | 21st     | Relegated, 24th on arrival in March                   |
| 2016/17 | Southend United | League Two            | England      | 1st      | League Two Champions                                  |
| 2017/18 | Southend United | League One            | England      | 2nd      | Promoted                                              |
| 2018/19 | Southend United | Championship          | England      | 17th     | Resigned in October                                   |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2018/19 | Wigan Athletic  | Championship          | England      | 4th      | 13th on arrival in October, Playoff Winners           |
| 2019/20 | Wigan Athletic  | Premier League        | England      | 15th     | Left in December                                      |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2019/20 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 8th      | 14th on arrival in December, DFB-Pokal Winners        |
| 2020/21 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 1st      | B'liga Champions, Supercup Winners, EL Semi-Finalists |
| 2021/22 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 2nd      | Supercup Winners, CL & DFB-Pokal Semi-Finalists       |
| 2022/23 | Werder Bremen   | 1. Bundesliga         | Germany      | 1st      | B'liga Champions, Champions League Winners            |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| 2023/24 | Arsenal         | Premier League        | England      | 2nd      | Champ's League Semi-Finalists, League Cup Finalists   |
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next Season:
What a nightmare. We never gelled as a team, and it just shows the individual quality I had at my disposal that we even got this far. I can't believe I've spent so much money and yet still have so many massive problems to fix. The defence in particular needs a complete overhaul, I'll probably get rid of almost everyone and rebuild from nothing should I have the funds to. My major concern is that we have to completely control games to have any chance of winning them, and even then I never feel confident.

If I retain my job through the summer, which seems likely for the moment as they'd have sacked me after the final match I imagine, then over the summer we need to find a footballing philosophy that fits most of our key players and stick to it. There was far too much chopping and changing during the year this time, which definitely didn't help, and was mostly my fault.

Just call me Arsene.

**deltablue** · 19-12-2011 14:56

If that's poor, than you should be amazing when having a decent season.

**SnakeXe** · 19-12-2011 14:57

Former Club Watch:

Weymouth F.C.:

Stone bottom and out of the playable leagues. Gutted.

Code:

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2012/13*  Blue Square South       2nd       Playoff semi-finalists
2013/14*  Blue Square South       9th       I left in October (resigned)
2014/15   Blue Square South       10th      -
2015/16   Blue Square South       19th      -
2016/17   Blue Square South       9th       FA Cup 2nd Round
2017/18   Blue Square South       3rd       Playoff Winners
2018/19   Blue Square Premier     21st      Relegated
2019/20   Blue Square South       14th      -
2020/21   Blue Square South       14th      -
2021/22   Blue Square South       19th      -
2022/23   Blue Square South       18th      -
2023/24   Blue Square South       22nd      Relegated

NB * indicates that I was in charge for at least part of the season.

Darlington F.C.:

One better in the JPT but a poor league campaign.

Code:

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2013/14*  Blue Square Premier     14th      I joined in October
2014/15*  Blue Square Premier     2nd       Playoff Winners
2015/16*  League Two              18th      I left in January (resigned)
2016/17   League Two              17th      JPT North Quarter Final
2017/18   League Two              15th      FA Cup 3rd Round
2018/19   League Two              3rd       Promoted
2019/20   League One              22nd      Relegated, FA Cup 4th Round
2020/21   League Two              20th      -
2021/22   League Two              6th       FA Cup 4th Round, Playoff Semifinalists
2022/23   League Two              9th       JPT North Quarter Final
2023/24   League Two              16th      JPT North Semi Final

Southend United:

Another season of Championship football and an FA Cup semi-final appearance make this a great year to be a Shrimper.

Code:

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015/16*  League One              21st      Relegated, I joined in March
2016/17*  League Two              1st       League Two Winners
2017/18*  League One              2nd       Promoted
2018/19*  Championship            15th      I left in October (resigned)
2019/20   Championship            20th      -
2020/21   Championship            12th      FA Cup 5th Round
2021/22   Championship            9th       -
2022/23   Championship            15th      -
2023/24   Championship            16th      FA Cup Semi Final

Wigan Athletic:

Woeful.

Code:

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2018/19*  Championship            4th       I joined in October, Playoff Winners
2019/20*  Premier League          11th      I left in December (job offer)
2020/21   Premier League          18th      League Cup Winners, Relegated
2021/22   Championship            2nd       Promoted, League Cup Quarter-finalists
2022/23   Premier League          17th      FA Cup 6th Round
2023/24   Premier League          19th      Relegated

Werder Bremen:

Officially the best club team in the world, but couldn't quite overhaul Leverkusen to retain the league.

Code:

Season    League                  Position  Notes                  
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2019/20*  1. Bundesliga           8th       I joined in December, DFB-Pokal Winners
2020/21*  1. Bundesliga           1st       B'liga, S'cup Winners; EL Semi-finalists
2021/22*  1. Bundesliga           2nd       S'cup Winners; EL, DFB-P Semi-finalists
2022/23*  1. Bundesliga           1st       B'liga, Champs League Winners
2023/24   1. Bundesliga           2nd       CWC, DFB-Pokal Winners

**City2000** · 19-12-2011 15:07

On paper it doesn't look too bad but it does sounds like a frustrating season, I guess the expectations are sky high given the amount of money involved.

Seems like a very important summer coming up!

**SnakeXe** · 19-12-2011 15:09

Originally Posted by deltablue

If that's poor, than you should be amazing when having a decent season.

Originally Posted by City2000

On paper it doesn't look too bad but it does sounds like a frustrating season, I guess the expectations are sky high given the amount of money involved.

Seems like a very important summer coming up!

Yeah the overall results are alright, except for the FA Cup debacle, but the manner of our play just hasn't been convincing, especially given what I've spent. I don't mind missing out on trophies if I feel like we've just not had the luck of the green or were put out by an excellent performance on the night, but that just hasn't been the case. We beat ourselves in all four competitions.

**SnakeXe** · 19-12-2011 17:05

2024 UEFA European Championship
Hosts: Spain
Holders: England

Group Stage:
Group A:

Code:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team        |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | England     |       | 3     | 3     | 0     | 0     | 8     | 2     | +6    | 9     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Netherlands |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 6     | 1     | +5    | 6     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   | Q     | Russia      |       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 3     | 6     | -3    | 3     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Iceland     |       | 3     | 0     | 0     | 3     | 1     | 9     | -8    | 0     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Group B:

Code:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team     |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Italy    |       | 3     | 3     | 0     | 0     | 9     | 3     | +6    | 9     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Serbia   |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 5     | 5     | 0     | 6     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Bulgaria |       | 3     | 0     | 1     | 2     | 3     | 6     | -3    | 1     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Norway   |       | 3     | 0     | 1     | 2     | 1     | 4     | -3    | 1     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Group C:

Code:

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

Group D:

Code:

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

Group E:

Code:

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

Group F:

Code:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team    |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | France  |       | 3     | 3     | 0     | 0     | 7     | 0     | +7    | 9     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Denmark |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 3     | 3     | 0     | 4     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   | Q     | Hungary |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 4     | 6     | -2    | 4     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Poland  |       | 3     | 0     | 0     | 3     | 1     | 6     | -5    | 0     | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Knockout Stage:
Second Round:
Serbia p1 v 1 England
Denmark 2 v 1 Portugal
Russia 0 v 2 Italy
Slovenia 0 v 3 France
Spain 0 v 3 Netherlands
Switzerland 0 v 1 Czech Republic
Hungary 1 v 2 Germany
Belgium 1 v 1p Sweden

Quarter Final:
Denmark 0 v 3 Serbia
Italy 3 v 0 France
Czech Republic 0 v 1 Netherlands
Sweden 1 v 2e Germany

Semi Final:
Serbia 0 v 1 Germany
Italy 0 v 1e Netherlands

Final:
Germany 1 v 1p Netherlands

**SnakeXe** · 19-12-2011 17:10

On the one hand, a difficult one to turn down as a proud(ish) Englishman; on the other, it's a bit early for career suicide, and the Arsenal job really requires my full attention.

**SnakeXe** · 19-12-2011 17:19

I was offered it in the end, but turned it down. If I'd won something with Arsenal last season I might have considered quitting for it, but there we go. One day.

**Flamers** · 19-12-2011 17:58

You suck :P

**SnakeXe** · 19-12-2011 18:21

SnakeXe's Career - Season 13 Preview - Arsenal

Board Expectations:
Premier League - Winners (Predicted 1st out of 20)
FA Cup - Winners
League Cup - Unimportant
Champions League - Final

My Expectations:
Premier League - Win it
FA Cup - Anything better than last year's performance
League Cup - More first team football for the backups
Champions League - We should have made the final last time even with a relatively tough route, so I'd hope to do so this time

Budgets:
Transfer: £60,050,000 (£51,600,000 remaining)
Wages: £3,066,087/week (£2,312,360/week currently)
Balance: £58,032,264 (+£32,128,510 since last season)

Squad:
I've gone for the jugular this season, bringing in two world class centrebacks (Aguero and Silva), a world class defensive midfielder (Holz), and a world class striker (Koster) for a combined £170m.

Key Men:
Goalkeeper/Defence
Dario Aguero - DC - Been tracking him for a while, fantastic centre-back coming in for £27.5m from Boca.
Diogo Silva - DC - Ditto Aguero, but £32.5m from Benfica.

Midfield
Moussa Ali Diallo - MLC - Powerful midfielder, a January signing from PSG, should be bedded in nicely by now.

Strikers
Gino Koster - ST - Euro 2024 player of the tournament, top goalscorer, and championship winner with Netherlands, as well as Bundesliga champion with Leverkusen last year. £60m is a steep price but he looks worth it.

**SnakeXe** · 19-12-2011 18:22

Originally Posted by Flamers

You suck :P

Oh look it's Flamers doing some flaming

Get your career thread updated, lad!

**SRL88** · 19-12-2011 18:37

Done a bit of advertising for you in my career thread

ha.

Good work with Arsenal so far mate

.

**SnakeXe** · 19-12-2011 18:40

Originally Posted by SRL88

Done a bit of advertising for you in my career thread

ha.

Good work with Arsenal so far mate

.

Thanks, I'll have to go have a look

**ManUTactician247** · 19-12-2011 19:21

Lol, the 2 defenders you signed are called Aguero and Silva, coincidence or deliberate?

**noikeee** · 19-12-2011 20:24

Just read about your last season with Arsenal, looks so similar to the story of my last season with Roma, talented squad, money to spend, fighting for all competitions, yet no trophies. Difference is that you have a tycoon and did far better in Europe.

With those new 4 world class players I think you'll walk this season, that forward looks insane.

**dburns1993** · 19-12-2011 20:44

Just read the thread from start to finish, quite a journey you've been on so far and been pretty successful!

I'm sure it will be even more intriguing if/when you go abroad and whether you'll stay there or come back to England.

Keep it going!

**SnakeXe** · 19-12-2011 21:34

Originally Posted by ManUTactician247

Lol, the 2 defenders you signed are called Aguero and Silva, coincidence or deliberate?

Haha definitely a coincidence as I only just noticed the link!

Originally Posted by noikeee

Just read about your last season with Arsenal, looks so similar to the story of my last season with Roma, talented squad, money to spend, fighting for all competitions, yet no trophies. Difference is that you have a tycoon and did far better in Europe.

With those new 4 world class players I think you'll walk this season, that forward looks insane.

I definitely do see the similarities! We've started well, so let's hope it continues - Koster has 5 in 4 so far.

Originally Posted by dburns1993

Just read the thread from start to finish, quite a journey you've been on so far and been pretty successful!

I'm sure it will be even more intriguing if/when you go abroad and whether you'll stay there or come back to England.

Keep it going!

Glad you're enjoying it! I'm definitely heading abroad again after Arsenal - I want to prove my managerial chops in the Premier League before leaving though, as I don't want gibbering moron pundits saying "Yeah but can he do it on a wet tuesday night in Stoke?".

**Pangaea** · 19-12-2011 22:42

Originally Posted by SnakeXe

Strikers
Gino Koster - ST - Euro 2024 player of the tournament, top goalscorer, and championship winner with Netherlands, as well as Bundesliga champion with Leverkusen last year. £60m is a steep price but he looks worth it.

Holy Mother of Crap!! That's some striker you've got there. He might even make do on a wet Tuesday evening in Stoke.

**SnakeXe** · 19-12-2011 23:24

He's an absolute machine - 13 goals in 9 so far.

**DazRTaylor** · 19-12-2011 23:30

Originally Posted by SnakeXe

He's an absolute machine - 13 goals in 9 so far.

He makes Cristian Yacuzzi in my game look like Emile Heskey

**Nobby_McDonald** · 20-12-2011 00:04

If that's you not gelling it will be scary when you do.

**jayahr** · 20-12-2011 10:12

Following this as well. And loving it

Good luck achieving your aims next year, though I guess if you win everything you may be bored quickly.

**deltablue** · 20-12-2011 10:18

Now that's a quality forward!

**SnakeXe** · 20-12-2011 10:45

Originally Posted by DazRTaylor

He makes Cristian Yacuzzi in my game look like Emile Heskey

Originally Posted by deltablue

Now that's a quality forward!

He's like Ronaldo (the real one) was with better knees.

Originally Posted by Nobby_McDonald

If that's you not gelling it will be scary when you do.

It should be scary, the individual talent in the squad last season was already outrageous and I've added four world-class players to that.

Originally Posted by jayahr

Following this as well. And loving it

Good luck achieving your aims next year, though I guess if you win everything you may be bored quickly.

Thanks

Yeah the stay at Arsenal won't be a long one. At the moment I'm thinking I'll see out my contract, hopefully bulking up my CV along the way, before heading abroad again. Probably staying in Europe at this stage of my career, unless a really interesting offer comes in from South America.

**SnakeXe** · 20-12-2011 11:57

Urgh, 3 games, 4 CCCs in each, not one CCC for the opposition = 0 goals, 2 conceded, 1 point?!

**City2000** · 20-12-2011 12:03

Well, no one can accuse you of not going for it with those signings. They all look top class!

Going by your above post I assume you have hit a bad patch then, still, looks like you have the squad to get out of it.

**SnakeXe** · 20-12-2011 14:31

Season 13: Halfway House Update

Given our transfer business over the summer, I hoped that our days of struggling for coherency were behind us. Initially this seemed to be the case, as we won 8 of our first 9 matches, the only blot on the copybook being an entirely acceptable 0-0 draw away to Liverpool.

However, we then hit a dodgy patch, with just one win in 5, including defeats away to Blackburn, Spurs and Man City, which dragged us off top spot and back into the chasing pack. With 5 games against also rans left before the mid-point of the season, I had hoped to take wins in all 5 to put us back in pole position. We managed just the three, with 0-0s against Huddersfield and Ipswich that were as one-sided as a mobius strip.

Still, 2 points off top is a lot better than 9.

The League Cup followed a similar arc to last season as the backups made short work of Norwich, Ipswich and Chelsea to set up a semi-final with Liverpool.

The Champions League was straightforward enough, wins home and away against Sampdoria and Dinamo Bucharest, plus a home win over Zenit, leaving the final-round defeat in St. Petersburg irrelevant. PSG in the next round is probably a little easier than Barca, but no room for complacency.

The Good

All the new signings, and Koster in particular, have been resounding successes
We're still in everything important
Presumably we'll be stronger in the second half of the season when the new signings have settled

The Bad

When Koster doesn't score, we rarely do
Our wonderful habit of donating points to poor teams who don't deserve any
Bad injuries to Abreu and Margreiter leave us a little short of cover

Results - League Table - Squad

**ShyBaldBuddhist** · 20-12-2011 14:51

Koster is showing why you spent £60m on him. He's got off to a flyer. Aguero and Silva look to have settled pretty quick too. Very tight at the top of the league. Should be a close run race

**AK22** · 20-12-2011 20:01

Definitely within a sniff of top spot in what looks a pretty competitive Premier League campaign. Everything will click eventually, then just watch the trophies roll in

**Flamers** · 21-12-2011 00:13

I might do, but theres no point updating if i haven't done anything

I have just lost the will to game really. I will get back to it

**SnakeXe** · 21-12-2011 09:53

Originally Posted by City2000

Well, no one can accuse you of not going for it with those signings. They all look top class!

Going by your above post I assume you have hit a bad patch then, still, looks like you have the squad to get out of it.

Yeah had a poor little 5-6 game spell but seems we're out of it now. I've switched tactics around a bit so our primary system is a 4-3-3 as before, but when we're playing a team who are likely to just put 10 behind the ball we go to a 4-2-4. More men in and around the box seems to solve the problem of failing to score, and the defenders are good enough to cope without the extra cover in midfield.

Originally Posted by ShyBaldBuddhist

Koster is showing why you spent £60m on him. He's got off to a flyer. Aguero and Silva look to have settled pretty quick too. Very tight at the top of the league. Should be a close run race

Holz has been excellent too - not only does he break up the play well but he's got a hell of a pass on him to set us going in the opposite direction.

Originally Posted by AK22

Definitely within a sniff of top spot in what looks a pretty competitive Premier League campaign. Everything will click eventually, then just watch the trophies roll in

Let's hope so! I think it might be a case of keeping a settled squad for the next year or two, there's been such a turnover of players even before I joined that they can't have developed a collective identity. I left the January window well alone and that looks to have paid dividends.

Originally Posted by Flamers

I might do, but theres no point updating if i haven't done anything

I have just lost the will to game really. I will get back to it

I look forward to it!

**Pangaea** · 21-12-2011 10:22

Wouldn't be Arsenal without relying on one striker to score all the goals

Looks in pretty good stead though, a few points off the top which is no problem to overtake if you get a good run of games. Good luck for the second half of the season

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