FM 12: FC UTRECHT - Life after Van Wolfswinkel...

Brief History

FC Utrecht is a Dutch football club based in the city of Utrecht. They currently feature in the Dutch Eredivisie and have won the Dutch first division title once in their history.

FC Utrecht were established on July 1,1970 after three clubs—DOS,Elinkwijk and Velox—were merged together. DOS had won the national championship in 1958.

FC Utrecht had featured in the UEFA Cup several times in the 1980s. They won the KNVB Cup in 1985, 2003 and 2004. In 2004 they also won the Johan Cruijff Shield, becoming the first club outside the traditional big three in the Netherlands to win this trophy.

Although FC Utrecht have suffered a down turn in fortunes since the 1990s, they have never been relegated from the Dutch Eredivisie.

On April 2, 2008 former Mammoet owner, Van Seumeren, took over 51% of the shares of FC Utrecht. The club then became only the second club after AZ Alkmaar in the Netherlands to be taken over by investors.

FC Utrecht play their home matches at the Stadion Galgenwaard that has a capacity of 24,426. The stadium was previously known as Galgenwaard and later Nieuw Galgenwaard.

They bear the nickname Utreg.

FC Utrecht in Football Manager

If you were used to manage FC Utrecht in previous FM versions, you’ll be surprised to see how much the team has changed after this summer, lots of their best players were sold: talented striker Ricky Van Wolfswinkel to Sporting CP, Dries Mertens and Kevin Strootman to PSV, Michael Vorm, great penalty saver, to Swansea, while experienced right back Tim Cornelisse went to Twente.

A little revolution that in real life stopped a bit FC Utrecht ambitions, now they’re a very young team with some talent, but probably there are too many undeveloped players to challenge Dutch top clubs.

Eredivisie has been a competitive league lately, with new emerging teams ready to mount a serious challenge for the title: Ajax, PSV, Twente and AZ are the hottest teams in the league, but Feyenoord, Groningen, Heerenveen and Vitesse are not too far.

Managing Utrecht you should try to establish them in the top half of Dutch elite football, improving their reputation year after year and attracting better players; Eredivisie is lightweight, compared to other federations in Europe, that's the beauty of this save, you'll need time and all your skills to build a Champions League's team.

Another good reason to start a game in Holland is that you won't need any work permits, you could finally sign exciting players from every country in the world, just remember to have a certain amount of home grown players (8) to satisfy Uefa requirements, if you play in European cups.

Facilities

Finances

You start with 8 M in the bank and the ability to choose different transfer and wage budget combinations:

Personally I chose mid-table, but you could go for a more ambitious option.

The team is financially sound but the Eredivisie prize money is not that great, so you'll have to find other ways to earn money and improve the club: expanding your stadium and playing in Europe are your best options.

more to come: players, tactics, tips...etc.

Goalkeepers

Roberto Junior Fernandez

No one could say that FC Utrecht don't have a good scouting network, after they sold Michel Vorm to newly promoted Swansea, they found this interesting Paraguaian keeper, el gato (the cat) is a really promising player, just 23 years old when the game starts and with a fairly professional personality, if you play him regularly he will develop into a very solid and reliable keeper, have a look at him in my game (March 2013).

Other keepers:

• Rob van Dijk, an experienced goalie (42 years) that could be a decent back-up for your first season, he could be a good tutor too.
  
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• Erik Cummins, a decent keeper still young (22), he will develop a bit, not enough to become a regular.
  
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• Fons Mulder, your youngest keeper (20), I can't predict a great future for this guy, feel free to cut him.
  

Defenders

Wuytens (26) is probably your best central defender with Schut, good teamwork and work rate, he's got great free kick and corners taking skills, unusual for a centre-back, a ball playing defender that won't develop so much in the future, surely a regular in your first season.

An experienced defender (30), Schut is very good in the air and with consistent mental attributes, a bit on the slow side, a partnership with Wuytens could work but I prefer to have at least one centre-back gifted with pace, try to find a quicker one (or employ Marcus Nilsson) and use Schut as your first backup.

Nilsson (23) arrived last summer from Swedish side Helsingborgs, he's your fastest defender and a great worker, should improve technically but all the key attributes a defender should have are here, good enough for this league.

Other defenders:

Mark van der Maarel, (21) a competent Dutch right back, my choice for that spot.

Daan Bovenberg, (22) another right back from Holland, more defensive than van der Marel, a bit injury prone in my first season.

Dave Bulthuis (20) a slow left defender with poor crossing skill, a backup if you decide to retain him.

Ismo Vorstermans (22), decent central defender that could provide adequate cover for your regulars.

Bart Vriends (20), similar to Vorstermans but less developed, no more than a backup.

Your main weakness in this area is the left back role, you should look for a decent one or you could decide to employ Jacob Lensky there.

Midfielders

Asare (24) is one of the best players at your disposal, a fast left winger that could play on the right and in the middle of the pitch too, I wasn't lucky with him but I'll explain that later.

If you need money you could raise around 2.8 -3 M from him.

Don't be fooled by numbers, I know this young Australian (19) could seem quite average, but Tommy Oar is a very effective left winger on the pitch, give him playing time and he will repay you with assists and goals.

Another interesting prospect, Yoshiaki Takagi (18), "the Japanese Iniesta", is a little gem that will develop nicely, he just needs to put some games under his belt, I'm moulding him for the advanced playmaker role, he just learned to "try killer balls often". This is Takagi in March 2013.

Jacob Lensky (22) is a good Canadian left midfieder that could play as a full back too, I sold him cause I decided to use fast wingers in this save, so I didn't need such a player, but if you're looking for a wide midfielder with good crossing and off the ball skills then Jacob could be your man.

Just a note, in real life Jacob Lensky retired from football due to personal issues at the end of December 2011, good luck man!

Other midfielders:

• Johann Martensson (22) a Swedish central midfielder from Gais, good mental attribute for his age, a very versatile man that will develop a bit, he could definitely start some games for you.
  
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• Edouard Duplan (28), decent French right winger, accomplished on the left as well, he won't develop but could be useful in your first season.
  
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• Michael Zullo (22), another Australian player, Mr. Versatility is the perfect backup to have on your bench, providing cover for many roles: Dmc, left back, right back and Mc, I like him a lot.
  
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• Gianluca Nijholt (21), this is a nice little creative central midfieder, not sure if he could become a regular, but if you need a swiss knife to break an entrenched defensive line, don't forget about him, great mental attributes: creativity (15), flair (15) and off the ball (15).
  

Forwards

Your best striker, the Swedish answer to Van Wolfswinkel's departure, Gerndt is 24, pacey and with good finishing skills, not the smartest player on the pitch though, he often does the wrong thing.

I used him as a lone striker, he probably works better with a deep lying forward or a trequartista close to him.

Demouge is a 28 years old Dutch striker, a good supporting target man with great composure, his aggressive attitude could be a problem

I have to admit I underrated Mulenga a bit, playing with a lone striker I sold him to Heerenveen at the start of my first season, then he had a great season with them, scored 15 in 23 games. A wrong move, but his contract was expiring in 12 months and I had no intention to renew it, so I chose to make some money selling him.

De Kogel (19) is a highly rated young Dutch striker that didn't develop at all in my game, honestly I didn't offer him too many chances, worried by his low natural fitness, he's still with me in season two, however I dropped Leon to the reserves.

Loaned him to Cambuur in season one, he didn't impress anyone. Will you give him a chance?

Tactic and transfer targets

4-4-2 (flat), 4-5-1 and 4-3-3 are all good tactics that could suit Utrecht players well, I decided to develop a 4-5-1 for my save mainly for its flexibility, I was going to use different strategies in my first season, from counter to attacking and a 4-5-1 framework could let my exploit my opponents flanks, if needed, without leaving holes in the middle.

In the screenshot you could see the roles and the missing players for the tactic I had in mind.

Few words about these players: Lazovic was my most expensive transfer, 1 M from Red Star, a hot prospect that could do well immediately, the others are some good bargains: Milan Gajic, from Zurich, is a deep lying playmaker technically gifted, really comfortable on the ball, Nelson for 60 k was a gift, plus he's Dutch

Djilobodji is a terrific and cheap central defender from Nantes, you'll fall in love with this player.

I loaned Moran and Rico in January, due to some injuries issues, they helped a lot and you could buy them when the season starts (more expensive) if you have the money.

You could have noticed I bought only one Dutch player (Gary Nelson), the reason is simple, I already had a lot of average Dutch players and I couldn't afford to bring in the best ones, too expensive for now.

Players sold:

• Mulenga 850 k to Heerenveen
  
• Asare 2.8 M to LOSC (he felt out with me after I sold his friend Mulenga...)
  
• Duplan 500 k to Bari
  
• Lensky 2 M to Leicester
  
• Demouge 300 k to Ascoli
  

Transfer market 2011-12 quick facts

Total spent: 3.6 M

Total income: 6.5 M

for future updates.......

for future updates (2)

Nice OP higgins .

Knowing higgins and his pedigree for being awesome at the game, I'll hedge my bets on Champions League winners in season 3.

The wolf!!

Nice OP higgins .

Thanks, still a work in progress...

Knowing higgins and his pedigree for being awesome at the game, I'll hedge my bets on Champions League winners in season 3.

fingers crossed...

By the way, just added Utrecht keepers info, other players will be up tomorrow.

The wolf!!

Better in reality than in the game. JL 76.

Better in reality than in the game. JL 76.

I know, but he seems improved this year (from FM 11).

Updated the OP.

Nice thread. Only tried managing in the Eredivisie with Vitesse once, perhaps will give this a try later.

Wooooow nice thread. Im wondering which skin are you using ?

brilliant team.. went to watch them play while i was visiting friends down there in Utrecht ... sort of become my supported team in the dutch league... interesting challenge too, playing one of the sides out of the top 3 in that league.

oh , and great OP .. very clean and fresh

Nice thread. Only tried managing in the Eredivisie with Vitesse once, perhaps will give this a try later.

Wooooow nice thread. Im wondering which skin are you using ?

brilliant team.. went to watch them play while i was visiting friends down there in Utrecht ... sort of become my supported team in the dutch league... interesting challenge too, playing one of the sides out of the top 3 in that league.

oh , and great OP .. very clean and fresh

Thanks guys, agree with you welshace, Eredivisie is a fun league to play for several reasons.

I'm using the Infusse skin, heavily edited by me.

Posted midfielders info, forwards next!

Just finished players reviews and posted some tactical tips.

I've been looking at doing a save with either Utrecht, Standard or Brugge for the past week but haven't been able to make my mind up....until now. Just loaded and scouting

I've been looking at doing a save with either Utrecht, Standard or Brugge for the past week but haven't been able to make my mind up....until now. Just loaded and scouting

Well done! I'm going to finish the OP soon, then I'll post the outcome of my first season.

Keep us updated about your progress.

A good first season, finished with a 4th place and an Euro League qualification for next season, lost to AZ (2-3) in the Dutch Cup 4th round; Twente won the league and Ajax the Dutch Cup

Key players:

Djilobodji, surprisingly my best scorer with 10 goals, a lethal weapon from corner kicks, 7.43 Av.R, impressive!

Tommy Oar, a great season for this small Australian winger, 9 goals & 8 assists

Darko Lazovic, playing as a right inside forward scored 5 and set up 13 goals.

Yoshiaki Takagi, 3 goals and 7 assists, our midfield maestro, just eighteen.

Wendell, 8 goals as a backup striker for this cheap Brazilian striker, capable on the right wing as well

Flop players:

Alexander Gerndt, only 8 goals in 25 games for our regular striker, I will surely sell this guy, too many mistakes.

Alje Schut, just 7 apps for this experienced central defender this season, Djilobodji was too much for him...

I needed to add more depth to the team, playing in Europe is very demanding, more quality players were required as well, the board gave me 3.5 M/5,5 M (wages) for a top half finish:

Mushaga Bakenga (20 yrs.), striker from Rosemborg for 750 k

Patrick van Aanholt (22), Dutch left back from Chelsea, loan

Marko Vejinovic, (22), Dutch central midfielder, a classic regista, for free

Labyad Zakaria, 19, another Dutch playmaker, free

Jeroe Zoet, (21) a backup keeper, 200 k from Psv

Maxime Lestienne, (20) Belgian left winger, on loan, will rotate with Tommy Oar.

Leo, interesting young striker (18) from Cruzeiro, a bargain for 375 k

Bob Schepers, (20) another left winger, 425 k from Cambuur

Milan Milanovic (21), Serbian centre-back, free

Daniel Kofi Agyei (21), I got Fiorentina as my parent club and they sent me this talented defensive midfielder on loan, for free.

Abdoulaye Bamba (22), attacking right back from Dijon, 950 k

Total spent: 3 M

Players sold:

I'm satisfied with this campaign, our low reputation stopped us from buying some top players, many of them refused to join, a good scouting network is needed to find the right players

Alje Schut (Dc) to Almere City for 150 k

Alexander Gerndt (St) to Reading for 1.6 M

Utrecht 2012-13

Gk- Fernandez (Zoet)

Dl- van Aanholt (Viler, Zullo)

Dc- Wuytens (Milanovic)

Dc- Djilobodji (Nilsson)

Dr- van der Maarel (Bamba, Bovenberg)

Dmc - Gajic (Kofi, Zullo)

Mc- Takagi (Vejinovic, Labad)

Mc- Israelsson (Martensson)

Aml- Oar (Lestienne, Schepers)

Amr- Lazovic (Wendell, Nelson)

St- Bakenga (Leo, Wendell)

Other news: Darko Lazovic was voted Best Eredivisie talent of the year for last season (2011-12), while Djilobodji, obviously, won the Fans Player of the year award; the board accepted to improve our training facilities, they'll be ready for next season and will cost 3.2 M, really happy about that.

Seasonal targets: improve last year league position (4th), qualify for the first Europa League knockout round, not so easy cause we have a really young squad and lots of fixtures, wish me luck!

Sounds like you had a really good first season there Higgins.

I've not been able to spend a long time on this yet but i'm planning on doing a proper update later

Sounds like you had a really good first season there Higgins.

I've not been able to spend a long time on this yet but i'm planning on doing a proper update later

Yes, to be honest I'm expecting more troubles in this second season where we'll have a fixtures congestion, with a match every 3 days, not easy to handle for an unexperienced team like we are.

Darko Lazovic

Darko Lazovic

Love him, he's developing really well, great inside forward and great corners taker.

Just happened in my game,I've never seen such a draw...total football??

A bit of a strange season all in all, not just for me but most teams in the division, as you can see from the table some of the bigger teams really struggled which made our life a lot easier. I'm actually far from happy with how the season went for us, we drew a lot of stupid games, i'm far from happy with the central midfield, wings and forwards so I have a lot to think about over the summer. We were never anywhere near Ajax and in fact it was only the last 6-7 games where we jumped from 4th to gain the CL spot thanks to AZ's bad end to the season.

Mulenga was top scorer with 13 league goals which is a half decent return but not good enough if we are going to take the next step. I found Oar a tad disappointing and am looking at replacing him with a lad from Chicago. As for CM's I am hoping our position season will enable us to nick a few from PSV and Feyenoord.

A very good season Dexter, 2nd is a great result, Silva and Toloi are two great buys, I'd be careful with Tommy Oar, he needs time but he will improve; I'll post soon my second season update.

By the way, 2.5 M for Gerndt was a steal!

Thanks Higgins, I do put a lot of it down to how bad the bigger clubs (Ajax aside) were though, I set the side out to be tough to beat if i'm honest in the hope of a top 6 finish so that part worked well. I was glad to see the back of Gerndt, absolutely useless for me I also will get 10% of his and the other outgoing players fees so I haven't done too badly at all.

Eredivisie: 2nd

Europa League: Quarterfinalist

Dutch Cup: Winner

Awards

Rober Fernandez (Fc Utrecht) voted Eredivisie Keeper of the Year

Eredivisie Talent of the Year: Bakenga 2nd, Lestienne 3rd

Eredivisie Top goalscorer: Bakenga 3rd

We did well and I'm satisfied about this season, we gained some silverware for our trophy cabinet and qualified for next year Champions League that will mean a huge boost for our reputation and finances.

I think we could have progressed more in Europe though, after we played our best match of the year vs. Tottenham (4-0), we badly lost the 2nd leg 0-5, a crazy, terrible game.

Key Players

I already talked about Fernandez and Bakenga, but other men had a good season:

• Tommy Oar with 6 goals and 8 assists
  
• Darko Lazevic, 11 goals and 8 assists
  
• Papy Djilobodji, 6 goals and 3 assists, once again Fans Player of the Year
  
• Yoshiaki Takagi, 1 goal and 11 assists
  
• Leo, 13 goals
  
• Wendell, 10 goals
  

Really happy about Takagi, Fernandez and Oar development, three players in the original Utrecht squad.

What are you waiting for guys? Holland is calling!!

Well done there Higgins, really good season, shame about Spurs fluking their way back in the second leg though.

Well done there Higgins, really good season, shame about Spurs fluking their way back in the second leg though.

Yep, I'll remember that game like a nightmare...

The board gave me 5 M/6 M (wages), in January I changed expectations (Champions League qual.)and more funds were added: 8,6/7,2 M

Players Bought:

• M. Lestienne (Aml) 250 k
  
• P. van Aanholt (Dl) 1 M
  
• L.Crisetig (Dmc) free
  
• Romario (Dr), loan
  
• S. Wangberg (Dc), 2 M
  
• N. Goris (Gk), 100 k
  
• L. Trossard (St), loan
  
• L. Barlocco (Dc), 1 M
  
• G. Araujo (Dl), 2.3 M
  

Players sold:

Nijholt 350 k to Academica

Wuytens, free to Fulham

League: Winner

Dutch Cup: semifinalist, lost to Ajax

Champions League: 1st knockout round, lost to Lokomotiv Moscow

Dutch Super Cup: Winner

A successful season, ruled the league losing just 3 matches, not enough consistent for Europe though, Lokomotiv seemed to be a beatable side but I was wrong, we were not able to score in both matches.

However at the end of the season we have a wealthy financial situation for an average Dutch club.

Awards

Eredivisie Talent of the Year: 1st Bakenga, 2nd Lestienne, 3rd Takagi... Utrecht has the best young players in Holland!

Best player:

No doubts, Darko Lazevic had a storming season, 18 goals and 14 assists.

By the way, I'm planning to change my tactic for next season, from 4-5-1 to a more attacking 4-2-3-1.

Another good season Higgins Haven't done too much so far for my second season, signed Gibson and Montoya (Barca) on frees and Klein for £375k. Beat Rangers and Fenerbache to make the group stages of the CL where I lost 3-0 at Man City but beat Schalke 1-0 at home, about to have a double header against Inter so even getting 3rd in this group will be an achievement.

I have my eye on a few regens from Argentina and have got a lot of reports from Brazil to get through as well, problem is my board won't extend the transfer budget (they give me £400k in the summer) even though I now have £12M in the bank. Hopefully they'll give me something in November/December time

Another good season Higgins Haven't done too much so far for my second season, signed Gibson and Montoya (Barca) on frees and Klein for £375k. Beat Rangers and Fenerbache to make the group stages of the CL where I lost 3-0 at Man City but beat Schalke 1-0 at home, about to have a double header against Inter so even getting 3rd in this group will be an achievement.

I have my eye on a few regens from Argentina and have got a lot of reports from Brazil to get through as well, problem is my board won't extend the transfer budget (they give me £400k in the summer) even though I now have £12M in the bank. Hopefully they'll give me something in November/December time

Well 400k is not that much, maybe your board think you spent too much in your first season? However they could give you something more in January.

Your CL group seems really hard, a 3rd place would be nice.

I'm planning for next season, lots of expiring contracts in 12 months, some work need to be done.

Not sure my board would have thought I spent too much in the first season, it was about £400k net. As for players I wanted a big shapeup pre season gone but the money didn't allow it so had to renew a few contracts I normally wouldn't have done. I'll hopefully be able to do something this upcoming summer though.

Beat Inter 2-0 at home so after 3 group games the table is

Utrecht 6 points

Schalke 5

City 4

Inter 1

I think 1 more win will get us 3rd and 4 points should see us through, giving up for the night so will post how it's going tomorrow.

Not sure my board would have thought I spent too much in the first season, it was about £400k net. As for players I wanted a big shapeup pre season gone but the money didn't allow it so had to renew a few contracts I normally wouldn't have done. I'll hopefully be able to do something this upcoming summer though.

Beat Inter 2-0 at home so after 3 group games the table is

Utrecht 6 points

Schalke 5

City 4

Inter 1

I think 1 more win will get us 3rd and 4 points should see us through, giving up for the night so will post how it's going tomorrow.

A surprising table, it seems your European run will continue!

First match of my 4th season, more silverware for FC Utrecht, won the Dutch Super Cup again.

My new fluid tactic seems to work well.

After our victory in the Dutch Super Cup (second-in-a-row), some bad news disturbed this new season, Yoshiaki Takagi, my talented attacking midfielder suffered from a broken leg, he will be 5 months out, if you add that I had already sold another attacking midfielder, Zakaria Labyad, our situation in the middle of the pitch was not so satisfactory.

My first countermeasure was to buy Kevin De Bruyne, well known Belgian wonderkid, 3.2 M paid to Bordeaux, then I loaned from Arderlecht Oleksandr Yakovenko, a technically gifted 27 yrs midfielder, to provide some cover for De Bruyne.

Other deals.

In: John Guidetti (St) free, Ibrahim Abdi (Mc) free, Emir Bajrami (Aml) 55k, Romario (Dr) 850k, Louise Parfait (Mc) loan, Gualberto (Dc) 550k

Out: M. Viler 1 M, M. Gajic 1 M, Milanovic 425k, Labyad 1.6 M, Vorstermans 55k loan.

I still have 5 M for January transfer window.

Good going getting Kevin De Bruyne Higgins

Just finished my 2nd season, i'll have the report up by this afternoon, all i'll say about it was that bar misfiring strikers and too many draws it actually went pretty well. I'll go in to it once I get all my ins and outs sorted so I can put it all in one post.

Good going getting Kevin De Bruyne Higgins

He's a terrific assist-man.

Table

CL Run

Cup Run

Player of the Season

Transfers

Allan Due

Another strong season in the sense we made a decent impact on the CL, though the 2nd leg v Juve was disappointing. The cup run was straightforward until the Ajax game but considering they had beaten us 4-0 in the league the week before to end our title hope (if we'd have beat them we'd have been a point behind going in to the last game of the season) I consider it a good result.

The signing of Gibson was a very good coup, easily a top player in this division and he's on manageable wages. He chipped in with a few goals and assists after an average start but he's settled in well now. The board announced a link with Fiorentina at the start of January which is how we got Ljalic and Carraro, tried to get both on permanent deals but Ljalic wasn't interested, I did eventually get Carraro in June though.

Strikers were poor as I said earlier and we drew too many games so i've began a big overhaul of the squad. I've kept the Dutch lads plus Wuytens, Asare, Lensky and Fernandez and Nilsson from the original squad but bar the HG players (and that's only because of Europe) non of these are safe.

Transfers 2013/14

Andres Ferretti

Giovane

Xabel (This lad is labeled the new Quini so he has a lot to live up to)

Alexey Ogolev (Bargain compensation buy, already rated better than Guilherme when I scouted him which allowed me to sell him and get most of these players)

Raul Araujo

Marcello Ravagilia

Toni Virtanen

Uros Dmitrovic

Jorgen Jensen

Moussa Nikiema

Gonzalo Repetto (joins in 2015 but I get the feeling this lad will be awesome, we beat Real Madrid to his signature)

Some aren't quite ready to play yet, more due to mentals than technical attributes so the ones I feel are not quite ready are keeping fit in either the U19 or reserve squad and I will review whether to loan them out or give them a first team run in January. Luc Castaignos is a top signing for us, i'd been tracking him for a while but was never interested, then it came up he was fed up of not getting first team action and Leeds bid so I put in an offer and he accepted. Zakaria Labyad is also interested but PSG want £12M for him, i'm hoping his price goes down in January time and then all i'll need is another CB.

I've altered the tactics massively for the season, we are sticking with the 4-3-3/4-5-1 shape but i've set the team out to be more attacking now in the hope it'll stop some of the stupid draws that cost us last season and to an extent the season before (though that wouldn't have changed our league position as Ajax were excellent that year). So far it's going alright, we've beaten Ajax in the super cup, got through tricky CL ties against Rangers and Dynamo Kiev and have took an early lead in the Eredivisie with 4 wins from 4 games.

You're surely doing well Dexter and Castaignos is a massive signing for Utrecht, my experience with Labyad was quite poor, bought for free in my third season I sold him this year, too many fitness issues.

I'm in my fourth season now and I'm leading the league in November, struggling in Europe though, after Takagi another worrying injury, Bakenga (17 goals in 14 games) is out for 3 months; now it's time for Leo and Guidetti to lead my attacking line.

My scouts also have a few bad things to say about Labyad, shame really as I could never get Takagi and Oar going (hence the Castaignos signing) i'm a bit overloaded with out and out strikers but most have the ability to play in another position so i'm thinking of going for a 4-2-3-1 (2DM's) with lots of interchanging if not in January then next summer to accommodate them properly.

I don't know if you had the same problem Higgins, but we've actually dropped in the Dutch rankings despite us being 2nd 2 years in a row and winning the dutch cup, Ajax have won both titles obviously but in the first season PSV overtook them even after their shocking season and did enough to stay there this year even though they weren't that much better :confused: Too add insult to my drop in rankings domestically, we rose 107 places in the UEFA rankings, i'm assuming this is a bug on the patch released in December :confused:

My scouts also have a few bad things to say about Labyad, shame really as I could never get Takagi and Oar going (hence the Castaignos signing) i'm a bit overloaded with out and out strikers but most have the ability to play in another position so i'm thinking of going for a 4-2-3-1 (2DM's) with lots of interchanging if not in January then next summer to accommodate them properly.

I don't know if you had the same problem Higgins, but we've actually dropped in the Dutch rankings despite us being 2nd 2 years in a row and winning the dutch cup, Ajax have won both titles obviously but in the first season PSV overtook them even after their shocking season and did enough to stay there this year even though they weren't that much better :confused: Too add insult to my drop in rankings domestically, we rose 107 places in the UEFA rankings, i'm assuming this is a bug on the patch released in December :confused:

Well, we didn't experience the ranking drop, but our last year Eredivisie title probably helped in that sense.

As you can see we finally overcame Ajax though it took them losing at Vitesse and the second to last day of the season to get ahead of them as their goal difference was far better. I'm not exactly chuffed with the way things went, we raced in to a 7 point lead at the start of November and by the end of January were 6 points behind Ajax. I changed to a 4-2-3-1 and we got back in to winning ways and managed to get back in touch with Ajax.

In Ferretti we now have a player who adds the goals that probably cost us last season which is pleasing. In the youth team Xabi (linked above) tore the division apart with an average of just under a goal a game so I brought him in towards the end of the season and he did alright playing out on the wing rather than his more natural position up front. Moussa Nikiema was also lethal with 10 goals and 25 assists at that level so he will be promoted to the first team squad once the season is under way.

After 2 seasons of selling out every game I decided to have a go at getting the board to build a new stadium and surprisingly they agreed

I'm not sure why the chairman took the loan out as with the sale of the current stadium, the sponsorship and then doing this coupled with money already in the bank we could have paid for it outright, but it's still pleasing to have, i'm also hoping it'll be expandable because if we keep going the way we have been we should be selling it out easily by the time it is built.

I have no current plans to buy this season as I want to give the kids playing time, if anything i'll be looking to sell 3 or 4 players just in case a top talent becomes available.

Well done Dexter, Ajax dominance is alway difficult to break, what about your European run mate? At the moment I'm experiencing some problems to be competitive on both fronts.

A bit surprised about the new stadium to be honest, I was thinking to ask for an expansion but I'll consider, at the end of my fourth season, about a brand new stadium.

Cheers Higgins. I did link the results in the post above, some decent results in the group beating Bordeaux home and away and winning at the Camp Nou (lucky if i'm honest ) though i'm a bit unhappy about not beating Benfica over 2 legs it was probably the best thing for us at the time as it gave us extra rest while Ajax were still in that and the Dutch cup which obviously helped us catch and overtake them.

I only asked for the stadium after the title as i'm confident enough that the other teams aren't really improving in our division so I should be finishing 2nd every season at worst now.