FM12 : West Bromwich Albion - The Hawthorns

WEST BROMWICH ALBION F.C WELCOME YOU TO ITS OFFICIAL FM12 THREADD

History Lesson

1878: Club formed by workers from Salter's Spring Works in West Bromwich. Won first game 1-0 versus Hudsons.

1879: Took name of West Bromwich Strollers after walking to Wednesbury to buy a ball. Then in 1880 strollers was changed to Albion and from then on they were known as West Bromwich Albion

1883: Won first trophy, the Staffordshire Senior Cup, beating Stoke 3-2 in the Final. Entered the FA Cup for the first time, losing 2-0 to rivals Wednesbury Town.

1886-1887: Got into the FA Cup Finals for 2 consecutive years and lost both to Blackburn and Aston Villa

1888:Became founder member of the Football League, winning first game at Stoke City, 2-0, on September 8.

Albion won the FA Cup for the first time, beating Preston North End 2-1 at The Oval before a then-record crowd of almost 19,000. Albion then lost 4-1 to Scottish Cup winners Renton in the 1888 Championship of the World game at Hampden Park.

1900 - 1901: Albion moved to The Hawthorns, the highest ground above sea level in the UK at 551 feet. The first game to be staged at the ground saw Albion draw 1-1 with Derby in a Division One encounter. County's England international Steve Bloomer scored the first goal at The Hawthorns, with Charlie Simmons equalising. At the end of season 1900/18901, WBA were relegated to Division 2. They were promoted to Division 1 in 1902 as champions before being relegated again in 1903 / 1904.

1905: Albions were call the Baggies for the first time

1910 - 1912: Earn a promotion to the Division 1 in 1910/1911 season. In 1912, they managed to reach the FA Cup final once more but lost to Barnsley1-0

1919-1931: WBA won the Midland Victory League in 1919. 1919/1920 the Baggies won their first Division Championship with record of 60 points. Fred Morris was their then top scorer with 37 league goals. 1924/1925 WBA finished as Runners-up to Huddersfield but were relegated in 1926/1927. WBA finished the 1929/1930 season with a record league goals score of 105. However they did not managed to get promotion to Division 1. But there's no stopping them in the following season when they won promotion to the coveted Division 1 as well as winning the FA Cup by beating Birmingham 2-1.

1932-1973:They were relegated in 1938. They gained promotion to the Division 1 in 1948/1949 and stayed in that Division for a record of 24 years. It is known to be the club's longest unbroken spell in the top tier of English football. 1954 WBA came close in becoming the first team in 20th century to win the League and Cup double as they finished runners-up to Wolves in Division 1. They beat PNE 3-2 to win the FA Cup. 1957 floodlights were install for £18,000. 1960s The Baggies were known for being a successful Cup side. In 1966, under manager Jimmy Hagan, they beat West Ham in their first League Cup appearance, winning 5–3 on aggregate in the last two-legged final. The following year they reached the final again, the first at Wembley, but lost 3–2 to Third Division QPR after being 2–0 up at half-time. Albion's cup form continued under Hagan's successor Alan Ashman. He guided the club to their last major trophy to date, the 1968 FA Cup, when they beat Everton in extra time thanks to a single goal from Jeff Astle. Albion reached the FA Cup semi-final and European Cup Winners Cup quarter-final in 1969, and were defeated 2–1 by Manchester City in the 1970 League Cup Final. At the end of 1972/73, they were relegated to Division 2.

1974-1982: WBA regained their status as a Division 1 team after winning promotion in 1975/1976 under the tutelage of player/manager, Johnny Giles. Ron Atkinson replaces Ronnie Allen in 1978. WBA became the first Western football team to tour China for friendly matches. In 1978/79, the team finished third in Division One, their highest placing for over 20 years, and also reached the UEFA Cup quarter-final, where they were defeated by Red Star Belgrade. 1980/81 saw Ron Atkinson leave for Manchester United along with Bryan Robson and Remi Moses with a combined fee of £2,000,000.

1982-1999: The mid-1980s saw the start of Albion's longest and deepest decline. They were relegated in 1985–86 with the worst record in the club's history, beginning a period of sixteen years outside the top flight. Five years (1991) later the club were relegated to the Third Division for the first time. 1994 The 'new-look' Hawthorns opened with a game against Bristol City on Boxing Day. Some 21,000 fans saw Albion win 1-0. Total cost of building new ground is £7.2 million.

2000-Present: 2000/01 In January, Enzo Maresca was sold to Juventus for a club record £4.3million. Brian Little left the club in March and was replaced by Gary Megson. Five deadline-day loan and permanent signings, including the return of Bob Taylor, saw Albion stave off relegation. Albion signed Jason Roberts for a record £2million from Bristol Rovers. WBA finally achieved a promotion to the Premier League in 2001/2002. But they only lasted a season in the top flight before returning to the Championship. However they made an immediate return to the premier league in the following season. In 2004–05 Megson's successor, former Albion midfielder Bryan Robson, led the team to a last-day “Great Escape”, when Albion became the first Premier League club to avoid relegation having been bottom of the table at Christmas. However they failed to avoid the drop the following season, and Robson was replaced by Tony Mowbray in October 2006. The club competed in the Championship promotion playoff final at Wembley Stadium on 28 May 2007, but lost 1–0 to Derby County. The following season Mowbray led the Baggies to Wembley again, this time in the semi-finals of the FA Cup, where they lost 1–0 to Portsmouth. One month later, Albion were promoted to the Premier League as winners of the Championship, but were relegated at the end of the 2008/09 campaign. In June 2009, Mowbray left the club to manage Celtic and was replaced by Roberto Di Matteo in the role of head coach. Di Matteo led the club back to the Premier League at the first attempt, but was dismissed in February 2011 and replaced by Roy Hodgson.

Minimum Expectations

Avoid Relegation: £7.75M / £700K p/w

Mid Standing Finish: £8.75M / £700K p/w

Top Half Finish: £9.75M / £725K p/w

Euro Cup (league): £10.75M / £725K p/w

Champions Cup (league): £11.5M / £750K p/w

Title Challenge: £12.5M / £750K p/w

Winner: £13.5M / £775K p/w

General Information

Estimated Value: £61m

Average Ticket Price: £36.80

Average Season Ticket Price: £633

Season Ticket Holders: 22,000

Media Prediction: 15th

Squad Personality: Determined

Facilities

Name: The Hawthorns

Location: West Bromwich

Stadium Capacity: 26,200 all seater

Owned By: West Brom

Stadium Condition, Undersoil Heating, Roof, Surface Good, Yes, No, Grass

Corporate, Training, Youth Facilities: Average, Top, Average

Junior Coaching: Average

Youth Recruitment: Average

People who can make this club successful

Goalkeepers

Ben Foster: 28 y/o GK On Loan for the rest of the season. An outstanding goalkeeper who rarely make mistakes. Composure is an issue for him.

Marton Fulop: 28 y/o GK Good back up to Ben Foster

Right Backs

Gonzalo Jara: 25yy/o RB. No doubt first choice ahead of both Billy Jones and Steven Reid.

Steven Reid: 30y/o RB. A player with vast experienced that provides great cover to Jara. Might challenge Jara for a first team spot based on Jara's and his form.

Billy Jones: 24y/o RB. Decent backup to both Reid and Jara. Use him only in desperate times or against Minnows.

Left Backs

Nicky Shorey: 30 y/o LB. Experienced season campaigner and the best LB in the current WBA set up. First teamer unless injured.

Joe Mattock: 21 y/o LB. Decent enough back up. Potential is there but still Raw. Play him in cup games to gain experience.

Centre Backs

Jonas Olsson: 28 y/o CB. 1st choice centre back along with Tamas. Captain of the team. Leader on and off the pitch

Gabriel Tamas: 27 y/o CB. 2nd to Olsson. Good CB.

Gareth McAuley:31 y/o CB. Decent back up, nothing more.

Craig Dawson: 21 y/o CB. Good back up. Player with lots of potential. Cup games should have him in the side.

Defensive Midfielders

Youssuf Mulumbu: 24 y/o DM. At an age where he is playing close to his potential. A player that should be in the first team week in week out. No doubting his talent as a DM.

Paul Scharner: 31 y/o DM. Great back up to have. Someone who does not let his opponent gets past him easily.

Right Wingers

James Morrison: 25 y/o RM. Good back up to Gera. Should be playing at least 10 league games

Zoltan Gera: 32 y/o RM. The best RM in the team who is average at best. His experience cannot be doubted. A full international who has represented his country 71 times.

Left Wingers

Chris Brunt: 26 y/o RM. Best LM in the team. Good on the ball, with great crossing and a good free kick taker

Graham Dorrans: 24 y/o RM. Good back up therefore should Brunt get injured, there is no need to press the panic button

Jerome Thomas: 28 y/o RM. Decent, that's all

Attacking Midfielders

Peter Odemwingie: 29 y/o ST. 1st choice alongside Tchoyi. Speedy striker who can finish well too

Simon Coxi: 24 y/o ST. Good to have as a Backup

Shane Long: 24 y/o ST. Good Back up.

Transfers to Improve this squad

IN :

Loan Filip Djuricic with a view to buy him at the end of the season. Loan fee of £500k

Ivan Bandalovski, £40k

Danny Wilson, on loan

Gylfi Sigurðsson, £9.5m

OUT:

Jerome Thomas

Roman Bednar

Marc Antoine Fortune

Formation

4-1-2-1-2 is a formation that I feel suits very well for West Brom. Another formation which you can use is 4-5-1. These two are very similar in Shape. Therefore either of these tactics should work quite well. Apart from the formation, Team instructions and Player instructions do play a part.

4-1-2-1-2

As can be seen based on the above picture, I applied the Attacking philosophy even when I play this formation. I just feel that WBA do have players who can play very well as most are attacking minded players. The CBs are given the Limited Defender Role with Covering as duty and Central Defender role with Stopper duty. Full Backs should be set at Automatic. The one man in front of the defenders are Set at Defensive Midfielder with Support Duty. The two DMs in WBA have the right attributes to play in that position. But first choice should always be Mulumbu.

The two wide man are given Winger as a Role and Support duty. Why they were given that is due to the fact most of the wide man in the team are decent dribbler and good crosser of the ball. The man behind the strikers role is set at Inside forward with Attack Duty. Strikers role should be set as Deep Lying Forward and Poacher. Odemwingie or Tchoyi should play as DLF while Simon Cox or Shane Long as a Poacher

Note : These are just Basic tactics. Should you have better way to improve the style of play, do let us know. Caring is sharing. Share to win is blessed. Hehehe.

On hold for future use tooo.

Ermm Craig Dawson a 31 year old decent backup CB???:confused:

LOL, tat was for McAuley.... oopsie....

I would just do a bit of tactics and that should be fine!!!

Selling JT?! Errorrrrrrrrr

that's what I did but its up to you guys wether you want to sell JT or not.

Really useful guide mate, good layout as well.

Gonna start a season with West Brom soon so I'll post in here how I get on.

Nice guide but needs updating due to new db/patch. Also, I would never sell Jerome as the guy is one of our best players both IRL & on FM.

I prefer to use a 4-2-3-1 control formation for home games & a 4-5-1 counter for away matches (Scharner as a holding mid), rotating Long & Odie up top as a poacher (Odie doesn't have the passing stats for a DLF!).

Since the update I find it hard to believe that Dawson is on the transfer list, I always play him along side Olsson at the back as he is more than good enough for our side & only gets better with more game time. Scott Allan is also another good prospect, I use him as a rotation for Mulumbu/Dorrans & give him starting roles in cup games, comes on leaps & bounds over 2/3 seasons. Not played with the Baggies on the new update as of yet but got them in the Champions League in 2nd season on an old save & only really spent money on Toloi, Verratti & Fierro.

Also be interesting to see how Daniels, Thorne & Berahino turn out, got high hopes for all 3 IRL