FM Time Machine - Staying Where I Should Have

[AcidBurn]

Previous Career

So the story so far was that I managed Auckland City and then left them once I had won the O-League to manage the team I watch most in real life Crewe. After straight promotions from League Two to the Premiership I achieved a very good 3rd place finish in our first ever top flight season, this gave me legendary status at the club but then came a disappointing 13th place finish. I have never fell so far down a league as I did for these two seasons. The aim of my save was to win every continents CL trophy so when Real Madrid came knocking with a £303,000,000 transfer budget and a £4 million weekly wage budget I accepted and enjoyed spending 100's of millions, however they would not give me my wage demands of £250,000 a week so I resigned and headed for Africa. This is where I started to struggle to get into my save as Kaizer Chiefs manager I felt every time I fired the save up I was forcing myself to play rather than enjoying it. This made me think of my back up save where I was still manager of Crewe and looking forward to moving into a new stadium so I fired it up and have decided to try and make Crewe the biggest club in the world.

Season 2019-2020 Transfers

Ahmed Naimi

Needed some new fullbacks after the poor defensive performances of last season. Naimi was transfer listed at Liverpool so I signed him for £8.5 million and got him to take a 10k a week wage cut to join us, capable of playing both full back positions and at 26 is at his peak, not brilliant but a good solid player.

Alberto

Released by Zaragoza, young and decent-ish potential he will be a good back up for no cost and little wages.

Aytac Ustun

Might be sent on loan as he is still young and has 4 star potential, his pace is obviously his best weapon. If I can train him right I have a feel he will become a very good player.

Danny Uhl

Spent £8 million on this talented German midfielder he has 4 and a half star potential so hopefully decent training and a bit of first team football will see him slowly improve.

Sam McMahon

I always looks through the England under-21's to see what talent is around and this GK was transfer listed at Liverpool. With other club sniffing around I took a chance and signed him for £3.6 million and he has 4 and a half stars of potential. Looks likely to improve and become Englands number one at some point in the future.

Santiago Morel

I tried to sign this lad to play left back last season from Argentina but he opted for a move to Panathinaikos for £4.8 million. I was surprised to have an £8 million bid accepted and I signed him up straight way he is a class player and is already attracting interest from Inter Milan.

Some big improvements and nearly £30 million spent I have a good feeling about this upcoming season. Our only problem is our top striker and best player Luca Casolla has started to get interest from some big clubs, he has a £30 million release clause and would not sign a new contract, now he refuses to even discuss one. I am tempted to try and sell him for £25 million plus at the end of the season despite him being good no player is too big to be sold.

[cerud]

Welcome back to Crewe

[AcidBurn]

Cheers, I couldn't resist going back.

Why are screen shots so small through photobucket?

[cerud]

No idea. I use imageshack.

[AcidBurn]

I normally do but can only upload one image at a time on there.

[DazRTaylor]

All the best mate

[jaycar]

Good decision, good luck

[acidmonkey]

Good decision. look forward to seeing how you get on

[cswalk08]

Good luck with your time machine trip back to Crewe!

[deltablue]

Yay, you've gone back in time!

[JackJCFC]

Good luck carrying on with Crewe this time

[CrD]

Good luck mate, looking forward to this, I was reading your other thread where you took over Kaizer Chiefs and you was saying there that you wasn't enjoying it, so will definitely follow this.

[AcidBurn]

Thanks guys, like I said no point playing a save that I do not enjoy. Should have the first update posted tonight.

[AcidBurn]

Great start in the league with only one loss so far against Arsenal but our away form made up for that with wins at Old Trafford and Anfield with a convincing 7-0 win over Fulham sandwiched between the results. Best result for the fans was the 4-2 opening day win over rivals Stoke City in their own backyard. Despite all these good results we went out of the League Cup to Derby a the first hurdle. Luca Casolla is scoring loads of goals I just hope we can keep hold of him and can get him into contract talks at some point. It's a pity we didn't turn the 1-1 draws against Ipswich and West Brom into wins then we would have been top of the league.

[cerud]

Good form so far. How many seasons have Crewe been in the Premiership at this point?

[AcidBurn]

Two we finished 3rd first time round and then 13th.

[Lenzar]

Are you going to go for Aston Quiggin, who in an alternate timeline went on to star for R. Madrid?

[AcidBurn]

Been keeping my eye on him his contract runs out at the end of next season and he rejected a new one at Stoke. He would cost a fair bit but save to say he is a target for next season if Casolla wants to leave.

[AcidBurn]

So after some good results we have managed to build a 4 point lead at the top of the table but still have some hard games left to play. Not sure what happened against West Ham as they thrashed us at our own ground. However the response from the side was excellent with us winning the next 9 league games in a row. We thrashed Peterboro in the FA Cup but then lost 1-0 in a very close game against Arsenal. I would love to win the league but I am not sure we have the talent to do so. With this in mind I raided Man United for two players who I think represent a great deal for the amount spent on them.

Kees Timmermans - Only cost £2.9 million which is surely a great price he will go straight into the first team in midfield with my favourite player Picchi.

Jonathan Watson - Cost £3.9 million and has great physical attributes also adds to the English players at the club, I would love to have a good base of English players for the team.

[alexcharliemann]

A team close to my heart Good luck, not that you need it.

[cerud]

You have my permission to destroy Arsenal at any opportunity

[AcidBurn]

A team close to my heart Good luck, not that you need it.

Good to see a Crewe fan here, I go to all their home matches and consider them my second team behind Sunderland although I probably know more about Crewe than Sunderland now lol.

You have my permission to destroy Arsenal at any opportunity

Haha, doubt that will happen they are too good.

[AcidBurn]

We finished 4 point behind Man City despite leading the league for a while at one, however the main aim was to get into the Champions League places and that was achieved. The loss against Bolton put Man City only one point behind us then back to back losses against Man United who completely thrashed us and Arsenal who also dominated the match saw us effectively put out of the title race. Another loss against West Ham who seem to be our bogey team put 2nd place in danger but we held on and claimed a 2nd place finish.

I played all sorts of formations over the season a flat 4-3-3, 4-5-1 with AMR and AML, a 4-4-2, a 4-3-3 with three DMC's but settled on this formation for the last 10-15 games of the season. Our problem is we rely heavily on Casolla who recently signed a new contract with a high release clause. Watson was a great signing with a goal a game and I was thinking of selling Jay Rodriguez who is now 31 but I think I will give him another season based on how well he did this year. Picchi was brilliant in midfield but seems to pick up a few injuries here and there and I am expecting more from Timmermans next season. We still concede a few too many goals for my liking despite excellent performances from the CB's.

Improvement In Domestic Cups

A big aim for me next season is to make an impact in the domestic cup competitions. Some people do not regard these as important especially the league cup but in real life being a fan of teams like Crewe and Sunderland whose potential to win a trophy is not high I would like to win one of these in FM.

A New Stadium A Year Too Early?

We were due to move to the newly build awesomely title Crewe stadium on the 21st of September 2021, I was shocked to see a news item stating we have now moved into the new stadium a year early this is despite the board room screen showing it has not yet finished being built. I have also asked for the board to invest in a few areas and they did so we are now building better training and youth facilities as well as investing more money into the junoir coaching, this is hoping going to pay off in the long run and help me build something meaningful for Crewe. I have also hired several more scouts to scout each region of the world in an effort to increase the clubs knowledge of players aged 16-20 that would cost a couple of million or less.

Blown out of the water

I identified Kurt Zouma as a potential target to improve my defence he is a physical beast of a player and one I signed at Real Madrid, he is in his prime and playing for St. Etienne he was worth £4.6 million so I bid £7.5 million then £10 million then out of nowhere Chelsea go and bid £46 million a price tag I cannot compete with unless I put the financial security of the club at risk with big monthly payments so I pull out. Next I go for Aston Quiggin of Stoke City a very good striker and at 23 years old approaching his peak, I get a big offer accepted of £26 million but then Man United come in. I have set myself a wage limit of £65,000 a week and Quiggin is on £21,500 at Stoke but he signs for Man United on £73,000 and wouldn't even talk to us.

I have been given a transfer budget of £18 million and a wage budget of £800k a week but we are spending around £500k at the moment. A CB is my top target for the season as well as a right back, as long as I keep Casolla which looks likely for the first time in my career there will be no attacking talent signed.

[cerud]

Apparently other teams have realized that you sign quality players and are poaching them from you! That's some crazy spending they have going on.

[deltablue]

That's not a large budget for challenging for the PL with.

[AcidBurn]

I took the easy option of top half finish could have got about £28 million for title challenge but I wanted to spend the money on improving the facilities instead.

[alexcharliemann]

Good to see a Crewe fan here, I go to all their home matches and consider them my second team behind Sunderland although I probably know more about Crewe than Sunderland now lol

I'm actually a Leyton Orient fan, but I'm managing Crewe in my current save and really enjoying it. Plus I love their focus on developing youff.

[AcidBurn]

Just seen your thread will give it a read, if I had known it was Crewe I would have started reading it a lot earlier. I have one striker who is 6 foot 8 and made his debut in League Two at the age of 16 now he is a starter at 22 years old in the Premiership. Not had any youth come through worth keeping for a few years now, hopefully improving the facilities a bit will help with that as I'd love to promote more academy lads to the first team.

[alexcharliemann]

I've found much the same thing. I have two strikers who have risen with me from BSP to Championship. Every youth intake has had at least one who can go straight into the first XI, which is amazing for a lower league team really.

[AcidBurn]

I had a few that easily stepped up from League Two all the way to the Championship but a few really struggled in the EPL.

[AcidBurn]

That's my best youth to come through, developed well as we progressed through the leagues. Not brilliant but good physical attributes as well as finishing, determination and work rate make him pretty good. Performing well in the CL group stages as well.

[alexcharliemann]

Can't imagine defenders like playing against him - good finishing, jumping, determination etc, looks ideal. If the heading was a bit higher he'd be the perfect target man.

[AcidBurn]

What amused me was in the lower leagues he played at AML cutting inside, not sure I have ever seen a 6 foot 8 winger lol.

He scores quite a few headers his jumping and strength mean he wins plenty in the air I'm just trying to improve his off the ball by 2 or 3 point if it's possible.

[Cleon]

Did you play much over the weekend?

[AcidBurn]

Yeah about half way through the next season-ish, why?

[AcidBurn]

A good start to the season, my aim is to try and put as many points between us and 5th place as I can. I know the team might be capable of challenging to top 2 teams but I want to establish us as a team that constantly qualifies for the Champions League. Arsenal are looking pretty good so far and almost became the first team to beat us at our new ground but we managed to hold on. Disappointed that the only loss we have was against Stoke City who are our main rivals. Casolla started the season well with 8 goals in 2 matches but he tends to score in streaks then go missing for a couple of matches. I am glad that Lee Campbell is scoring a few goals, it's always nice to see an academy lad playing well especially one who has represented us in all four leagues. Timmermans and Picchi form a great partnership in midfield but as good as Picchi is he still seems a little injury prone at times.

Bit boring in the transfer market for this season with only defensive players signed.

Akyur Yildiz

This guy was the top signing costing £11.5 million from Champions League winners Galatasary. He is a decent age and can hopefully help out at the back because at times we are poor defensively. I was a little bit surprised that he decided to leave the CL winner and sign for us as we are still a pretty small club but I guess that's the lure of the Premiership.

Carmine Stendardo

I really wanted to bring in another fullback and after sending my scouts around Italy they came back with this youngster who they rated at 4 and a half stars of potential. He was listed for only £5 million so I signed him up and hope I can turn him into a superstar.

Robert Thomson

Signed from Celtic for £2.5 million he was one of the players that had all the required attributes I wanted to play at CB. Will be a decent back up and rotational player.

I will need to go into the transfer market for one or two players in January as we only have a 22 man squad which really needs fleshing out a bit to cope with all the games.

[Jpayne]

Galatasaray won a UEFA Champions League? Never thought I'd see that.

[AcidBurn]

[Jpayne]

Impressive.

[cerud]

Good start to the league so far. Distance between you and 5th is growing.

[JackJCFC]

That Yildiz has some great physical stats, im sure he'll prove to be a great signing.

[AcidBurn]

Good start to the league so far. Distance between you and 5th is growing.

Cheers, that's the main aim for this season.

That Yildiz has some great physical stats, im sure he'll prove to be a great signing.

I'm pretty confident he will be a good signing.

[AcidBurn]

We are still in the race for the top but I am only concerned with the gap between us and Chelsea/Liverpool. The loss to Man United was a poor performance all round and we deserved to loss by more however the rest is positive. We drew with Man City but we did not score any of the goal as they managed to put away two own goals to give us a share of the points. The main talking point has to be Jonathan Watson who failed to score at all in his first 6 starts but suddenly went mental 7 goals against Spurs 6 of them coming in the first half were followed by 4 consecutive hat tricks then a brace. I have never seen someone score so many goals before at the point in time he had a last 5 match rating of 9.68 with 19 goals, crazy stuff. We have been scoring a lot of goals and not been bad on the conceded part either.

Martin Caviglia

I thought we needed some creativity in midfield and at one point we had a lot of injuries and had only 2 players on the bench. Caviglia was transfer listed at Sevilla 18 months after they had paid £13 million for him I got him for £7.5 million.

Sonny McKimm

I tried to get this lad on loan from Man City at the start of the season but he wouldn't agree terms with us, we had to offer a future fee of £22 million. A few months later he is still listed for loan after turning down several loan offerers so I bid for him and managed to settle on a fee of £12.5 million. He is a wonderkid so I signed him up and I hope to have a very good player now to team with Yildim at the back for the foreseeable future.

[AcidBurn]

After beating Fulham 4-3 in extra time FM conspired against me and by "luck" I was drawn against the other team I support in real life. A cracking match unfolded they pulled back to 2-2 with a late goal and went ahead at the start of extra time I had a feeling we were out but we came back to draw level within a few minutes. Then came an awful penalty shoot out with both teams taking poor penalties but Sunderland eventually going through by scoring their 8th penalty and us missing ours. We also played 10 minutes of the extra time with 8 men having used all our substitutes.

I thought our group might be tricky in the Champions League but we breezed it PSG were a lot poorer than I expected them to be rolling over for us twice, with them out of the way and an away win against Valencia we qualified very easily. Once again FM has conspired against me and drawn me against the team I managed in the alternate version of this career a team I cannot see us beating but who knows?

[cerud]

The dstance between you and 1st place is still close. Possible upset?

[AcidBurn]

We play Arsenal at the end of March, could be a very important game.

[Cleon]

Good luck for the Madrid games

[SRL88]

Good luck against Madrid.

[AcidBurn]

Cheers lads.



Not a bad result away from home considering how many shots they had they didn't really create too much and only scored when an injured 33 year old Benzema scored his first goal of the season by lobbing my GK from 40 yards.

[AcidBurn]

Just wondering who you guys think will finish the season as top scorer, all the following players are pretty close in their goal return and all three play together if they are all fit and ready.



Casolla is first up with 27 goals so far in 30 matches and is probably the best player out of the three.



Watson is the current leader but 19 of his goals came over only 5 matches.



Campbell is the outsider and probably slightly worse than the others but he still has a good goal return, with him being a youth product I would love to see him end as top scorer.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Had you won the league with Crewe I would have had to be resusitated having keeled over in shock.

[deltablue]

Decent result in Madrid.

[AcidBurn]

First off we splatted Real Madrid, I'm not sure what happened to them but they were totally rubbish although when they got to 2-1 I thought here we go again. The FA Cup saw us beat Wigan 2-0 and then our rivals Stoke City to book a semi-final slot against Newcastle which will be tough but not as tough as the Champions League draw which sees us playing Barcelona.

As you can the see the league is going extremely well Champions League place is virtually done now and even if Man United win their game in hand we will still have a decent lead. The back to back wins over Arsenal and Man United will be seen as the two results that bagged us the title if we do manage to hold on and win it. Campbell has really stepped up recently and scored some really important goals he is proof that people concentrate too much on CA and PA at times, I do not know what his CA is but he is only rated at 2 and a half stars yet he is vital to the side. January signing Caviglia has started to step up with his first goals for the club and some cracking passes.

I just hope to keep morale good now, a loss against Barcelona could be bad as we play them next but it does look pretty good!

[cerud]

The league is looking good. You have a bit of a cushion whichshould help in the latter stage.

[AcidBurn]

Had you won the league with Crewe I would have had to be resusitated having keeled over in shock.

Haha you better get prepared then!

Decent result in Madrid.

Cheers the return leg was even better.

The league is looking good. You have a bit of a cushion whichshould help in the latter stage.

Guess we'll find out in my next update!

[AcidBurn]

I'll start with the league first, we won it! Managed to build up a good lead and never really slipped up apart from the loss against West Ham who are my bogey side. Disappointment in the FA Cup we were 3-1 down against Newcastle after 65 minutes so I made some substitutions minimised the game and browsed the internet thinking we had lost, however when I put the game back on we were 4-3 up having scored in the 72nd, 74th and 77th minute. This booked a place in the final versus Man City but they were just too strong for us and breezed through us with a 2-0 win. After the Real Madrid win we drew Barcelona but they were not really a threat a 2-1 away win and then back to our place for us to hammer them 4-1. I hated having the home leg first in the semi-finals where we faced Arsenal a good 2-1 victory made for a nervous return leg that I was not confident of winning, we got thrashed 3-0 and to be fair they could have had more.

Overall though a fantastic season bringing in plenty of money for the club to grow. The board are adding another 8,500 seats to the 26,500 all seater new stadium we now play in and they are also upping the youth facilities something I would have asked for anyway.

As you can see fans player of the year Lee Campbell was the star man up front with a great return of 45 goals not bad for a 2 and a half star player with decent but not great attributes. Jonathan Watson was unlucky as he picked up a 3-4 month injury meaning he missed the last few months of the season and couldn't add to his great goal ratio. Casolla scores in batches but is vital to the side grabbed a lot of assists. Picchi was good with highest rating not including the strikers.

Luizao

For the first time ever I had a player sold over my head but it was my fault really. I signed Luizao for free 4 years a go but he never really played the well despite good attributes so I loaned him out and when he returned I offered him out for £7.5 million but no one offered anything for him. So I thought I would give him a chance in the team, he did pretty well but nothing spectacular I must have left the asking price low so when Corinthians bid £8.75 million out of nowhere the chairman accepted. Not a bad deal although he looks a decent player he never really performed well.

Also leaving were Kyle Bartley who was average, Wayne Hennessey who since we signed Sam McMahon hasn't had a look in, Brodie Coupland a player that was at Crewe when I took over and played at every level for us but is simply not good enough and finally Jay Rodriguez who has been brilliant for us but at 32 he wanted a pay rise from £25,000 a week to £45,000 I offered him a one year deal at £27,500 a week and locked that offer but he rejected.

Marlon - The first new player arriving is Marlon who I agreed a £2.5 million deal for nearly 2 years a go he has loads of potential and will hopefully start player straight away as a back up player to the others.

Josh Southern - The second arrival will be Josh Southern for some reason he was transfer listed at Man United, he might be a bit slow but he is rated at 2 stars currently with 4.5 star potentially so should have lots of room for improvement.

[cerud]

Great job in the league. Suck about your chairman going over your head, but at least you got more than you were originally asking for.

[cswalk08]

Great job! I noticed you said you won the league in your comments but the picture is showing Man City as champs. Wrong picture?

[AcidBurn]

Great job in the league. Suck about your chairman going over your head, but at least you got more than you were originally asking for.

Cheers, it was my fault for not setting a bigger asking price really.

Great job! I noticed you said you won the league in your comments but the picture is showing Man City as champs. Wrong picture?

Thanks dude, fixed it now lol.

We also never lost a game at our new ground all season, now in pre-season the assman messed that up meaning Bohemians became the first side to win at the awesomely titled Crewe Stadium.

[deltablue]

I think Nobby needs reviving

[AK22]

Blimey! Crewe the Champions of England! Well done!

[DazRTaylor]

Extraordinary saeason mate. Congratulations!

Champions League winners next...

[AcidBurn]

I think Nobby needs reviving

Haha, he probably will.

Blimey! Crewe the Champions of England! Well done!

Cheers dude.

Extraordinary saeason mate. Congratulations!

Champions League winners next...

Thanks, that is the aim for next season as well as winning a domestic trophy.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Beep... beep... beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppppppppppppppppppp ppppp

[AcidBurn]

Beep... beep... beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppppppppppppppppppp ppppp

Haha wondered when you would show up.

[AcidBurn]

Not a bad start to the league but could have been better, Man United have got off to a flyer including beating us 3-2 at Old Trafford. We suffered our first competitive loss at the new stadium against 10 man Arsenal and later lost against Newcastle at home as well. We were on fire scoring plenty at the beginning of the season and have lost three matches so far which is only one less than we lost in total last season. There has been a marked improvement in Caviglia's game since I started to use a 4-2-3-1 placing him at AMC where he performs much better than he does at MC. However this means that Lee Campbell has to move out to fill the AML spot obviously meaning he scores less goals. I like being able to use a 4-3-3 and a 4-2-3-1 so need to try and bring in a new winger in January.

Damion Crisp

At the start of the season I signed Crisp from Spurs for £8.75 million following their relegation from the EPL. I expect a lot from my fullbacks and this results in them tiring quickly so now I have four fullbacks all of which are pretty damn good.

Koketsu Sono

I needed a bit of a work horse player to go in the middle and splashed out a record £15 million on Sono from Ajax, looks top quality and comes is very useful when I play a 4-2-3-1 as the perfect partner to a deep play maker.

There will be a couple of players going out in January disappointingly Josh Southern who has great potential is on his way after 6 months. He only played a few games but made some huge mistakes, when declaring he was unhappy at not playing enough I told him he was poor when given the chance, this led to him saying he didn't care and just wanted to go so I sold him for £10 million and 50 percent of his next transfer. Robert Thomson who I signed as back up for £2.5 million last season is also on his way out after 16 starts for £5 million plus 50 percent of his next transfer. Promising midfielder Danny Uhl never quite made it for me so he is also going for £5 million plus 50 percent of his next transfer. Seems pretty easy to add that clause into virtually any transfer.

[AcidBurn]

Champions League was pretty routine in fact us and Inter both qualified after 4 matches making the last two games meaningless. I fielded a good team against Celtic but I was experimenting with a new formation and it backfired as we lost 2-0. Switched back for the last game against Inter and thrashed them 4-0.

I usually leave posting about the League Cup but can't help it after the last result. Man United for some reason fielded about 3 or 4 first teamers and the rest of their squad was made up from reserves, probably the most enjoyable win I have ever had on FM. Despite not being full strength beating a top side 10-1 at their own ground is pretty impressive. Lee Campbell led the way and he is now a Crewe legend and one of the best regens I have ever had.

[deltablue]

Reserve team or not, 10-1's pretty heavy.

[cerud]

7 goals by Campbell in that Man Utd match Hope he can get half of that in league games!

[Nobby_McDonald]

Haha wondered when you would show up.

I don't get to come on the forum as much as I used to so I have to play catch up every few days.

[SRL88]

Have to say, that was just an ****ing unbelievable season last term .

[AcidBurn]

Reserve team or not, 10-1's pretty heavy.

I was very proud of that result.

7 goals by Campbell in that Man Utd match Hope he can get half of that in league games!

I hope he can carry on, I have been using him out wide because he is the only AML in the squad but I have gone back to a no winger tactic now.

I don't get to come on the forum as much as I used to so I have to play catch up every few days.

Is your TNA diary still going? I only really go there for WMMA stuff.

Have to say, that was just an ****ing unbelievable season last term .

Cheers, I expected us to get in the top four but didn't think we could win it.

[AcidBurn]

We have two games in hand but I would have preferred to have the points. A 4-0 win over Man City was followed by a loss against West Brom at home. A hard fought 4-3 win away to Chelsea was followed by an awesome run of form 7-0, 9-0 5-0 and then another humiliating defeat for Man United at the hands of the newly inspired Caviglia who has been sensational since moving from MC to AMC. We struggled a bit after that with a lucky 3-1 win at Liverpool following by a really beating from Arsenal who could have had more than four goals. We seem to have sprung back well and Picchi our best MC kept a clean sheet as a GK against Bolton when both GK's were injured although to be fair Bolton only had 3 shots none of which were on target.

First domestic cup win since taking charge as Crewe manager came with a brilliant performance in a 2-0 victory over Chelsea goals from Watson and Picchi sealing what was really a walk in the park.

[NorthernGooner]

Lovely Goal Difference you have there also congrats on winning the Cup.

[deltablue]

You're not half banging them in!

[AcidBurn]

Lovely Goal Difference you have there also congrats on winning the Cup.

Thanks, hopefully the first of many.

You're not half banging them in!

I know, I moved the middle striker of my front three to AMC and he keeps getting into the box while their CB's are busy with the strikers he scores the goals.

[cerud]

Those points will come. You're in good position to overtake that lead

[AcidBurn]

We did great this season as Man United were playing like champions early in the season. The added bonus was winning the title at home against our biggest rivals Stoke City with a 2-0 win. Every team in the EPL found ti hard to cope with Caviglia once I started playing a narrow diamond with him at AMC, he was left unmarked quite a bit and the fact he has 20 for off the ball means he gets in some great positions. Obviously the thing that stands out for me is the goals scored at times we were ruthless ripping teams apart but not just the bottom sides we destroyed some good teams as well.

We completed the domestic treble with a great FA Cup run. We were lucky against Norwich in the earlier round and even more so against Chelsea but we had something extra during extra time that they couldn't deal with. McKimm the CB grabbing two goals one from a corner and one from a free kick to send us to victory. We went onto the final to make Man United our bitches again this time Caviglia scored a hat trick and Campbell added the fourth to increase our lead to 4-2 and lead us to lift the second domestic cup of the season.

[AcidBurn]

The first Champions League win in the history of the club. Once we had the 2-1 away win over Marseille I knew we would beat them at home and we did quite easily. The next round saw us drawn against Neil Lennons Porto who we dispatched easily at home and then away we went one better to win 4-1. A trip to Madrid was always going to be hard and we deserved to lose the first leg and I thought I would have to wait until next season to get another crack at this competition. However the team was brilliant at home with Caviglia proving how good he had become with two goals and a Lee Campbell strike in between. I thought we would face Arsenal in the final but Bayern got rid of them with a 6-2 victory over both legs.

The final shouldn't have even got to extra time in terms of chances we dominated hitting the wood work three times in the first half we still found ourselves losing 1-0 until McKimm drilled in a powerful header just before half time to put us level. The second half saw mostly us attacking but we couldn't score the main man Caviglia put us ahead and then the other CB Yildiz hammered home a header from a free kick and Caviglia added the last goal.

A brilliant season that couldn't have been better all competitions that we entered we won. The league was slightly harder than last time and we avoided other English sides in the Champions League which is something I like to do. The domestic cups were nice to win because I hadn't won them yet. Not really sure how the season can be improved on for next season.

The day after I delivered the Champions League title I went to ask for a new contract. At the time I was on £39,000 a week and had one year left to run, I said I deserved a new contract due to the success I had given the club and the board agreed. Their opening offer was £70,000 a week but I wanted £100,000 in the end we settled on a 5 year contract for £85,000. This means I now earn more than any player in my squad which is the way it should be.

Next season I want to try and bring some more youth through but there were no good ones through the academy this year. The board have agreed to increase the youth facilities to state of the art and to be fair they are pretty good with wanting to improve all facilities and are adding another 9000 seats to the 35,000 all seater stadium we currently have. I just wish that we could get some better sponsorship deals as the current ones are pretty poor, the main shirt deal has been improved from £1.8 million to £4.9 million. I also acquired a feeder club in America San Jose to increase our merchandising, this season we made £8.2 million compared to just £1.9 million last season I'm not sure how much of this is to do with the feeder club and how much to do with us improving our reputation through winning.

[deltablue]

You earned that.

[AcidBurn]

You earned that.

I think so, it's good to be the highest paid person at the club.

[deltablue]

Wise Brian Clough words.

[cerud]

Brilliant season and definitely deserving of a better contract.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Is your TNA diary still going? I only really go there for WMMA stuff.

Yeah it is. That is running at a slower pace too as my internet and gaming use is a lot less these days.
Not long done Bound for Glory IV where amongst other things Buff 'The Puff' Bagwell helped 'Big Black Love Muscle' Monty Brown. Got to love the creative freedom in that game.

[Nobby_McDonald]

And well done on winning the Champions League with Crewe.

[AcidBurn]

Brilliant season and definitely deserving of a better contract.

Thanks, hopefully I can follow it with a similar season next year.

Yeah it is. That is running at a slower pace too as my internet and gaming use is a lot less these days.
Not long done Bound for Glory IV where amongst other things Buff 'The Puff' Bagwell helped 'Big Black Love Muscle' Monty Brown. Got to love the creative freedom in that game.

And well done on winning the Champions League with Crewe.

Cheers, I pop over to greydog every so often to have a read of the diaries.

[SRL88]

I may pull out a Soccer AM 'Easy' video again .

[AcidBurn]

Forgot to add the best 11 from last season, Caviglia really impressed at AMC finishing top scorer by quite some way. I think playing this diamond means that the AMC scores loads of goals and the strikers get less than when they are a front three. The defence was solid as was midfield with Maguire really showing what he can do during the second half of the season. Picchi is a great success story released by Empoli and signed when we were in the Championship he is now an important part of the Italian national team and is worth £26 million.

I'm a bit annoyed at our start we usually race out of the blocks but this time round lost to Man United at home and surprisingly Wigan away, disappointed with a draw at Spurs because we dominated the game and should have had it all won by half time. West Brom doing very well with a 36 year old Wayne Rooney at AMC and a top regen at striker who I have tried to sign in the past but they want at least £40 million for him.

Players Out

Hakan Gunes

My biggest mistake as manager, I signed him in January last season for a huge £33 million but he never really did much apart from get injured and play very averagely. After a few more injuries and a slow start to this season I decided to sell him to Inter Milan for £23 million plus a few other clauses. Makes me worry about spending that much on a player ever again.

Shaun Donovan

This guy was brought in as a back up to my main GK but he did nothing but moan then when given a chance he would mess up, so I sold him to Wigan for £5 million plus 50 percent of the next transfer.

Kees Timmermans

Timmermans has amazing attributes and is a top top player but he started kicking up a fuss about a new contract. I am trying to keep the wages in check and I feel at the moment no player is worth paying more than £80,000 a week. So when he wanted over £100,000 I decided it was time to ship him out. I got £30 million all up front plus 50 percent of the next transfer, an offer I thought was well worth accepting.

Players In

Javier Demartin

I decided that I would sign this guy despite not really needing any new strikers, he has huge potential and plenty of other team sniffing around him so I decided £11 million was well worth it.

Mateusz Grembocki

I needed to sign two GK's one as back up and one for the future. I was surprised this lad was offered as his contract had expired so I snapped him up to see he has 3.5 stars of potential so with the right training could become a very decent GK.

Mohammed Yeboah

The biggest signing of the season so far at £16 million from FC Kobenhavn, I thought I could get him cheaper than I did but I didn't mind paying the extra to rotate him with McKimm and Yildiz.

Nick de Vries

£3.6 million from PSV this Gk will give McMahon a challenge for a starting place and probably play the cup games as well.

Oscar Lizarranga

I tried to get him last season but couldn't as he wouldn't discuss a contract but Real Madrid offered him out for £5 million so I signed him. I remember him being pretty good in my alternate game, Caviglia played a lot last season probably too much so now Lizarranga will start the easier games and cup matches to make sure Caviglia is fit for the big games.

Russell Mortimer

£2.5 million from Liverpool not a bad price at all for a player this young and loaded with potential. Him being English also made me want to sign him, I have been trying to get a good English spine to the side but it's too hard to do at the moment because there is so much talent available at much cheaper prices.

[AcidBurn]

Good to see the club improving we now get loads of glory supporters filling the stands of the 44,092 all seater stadium. I am hoping the improved youth facilities will eventually lead us to start producing our own regens worth having. I will continue to have the facilities improved until they are all the highest they can be. I hope to keep this save going long enough to see another stadium built but that will take a while.

[deltablue]

That will be very useful.

[AcidBurn]

That will be very useful.

I hope so, there's only been one player worth keeping that's come through the academy since I have been manager. Trouble is now he feels he has achieved all he can and wants to leave.

[Cleon]

Sheffield United bottom

Glad to see the facilities finally been upgraded for you

[AcidBurn]

Cheers, it only gets worse for your lot. Lets just say after 20 games they have only scored 4 goals.

[cerud]

So, is "state of the art" after "top" in facilities? Would that make the "top" no longer the top?

[SRL88]

Tell them people at Anfield to pull their fingers out AB.

[AcidBurn]

A three point lead and a game in hand is not too bad after 20 matches, we've been surprisingly strong at the back for a team managed by me. We bounced back from the loss against Wigan superbly with 10 league wins in a row including decent wins over Arsenal and Man City. We are more solid than last season but I don't think we are as brutally efficient in front of goal as last season. Although not completely a one man team Caviglia is key to everything we do if he were to get a serious injury I think we would struggle slightly to get goals.

Don't think I have ever dominated a match so much shots wise, I think we should have won about 6-0 really. Still we did enough to go through and then won the last match to book a place against Celtic in the first KO round.

[AcidBurn]

The group stage was reasonably easy we went 3-2 up against Schalke in the first game when we scored in the 90th minute but they came back to score in the 93rd to grab a draw. Kobenhavn were easily dispatched as were Valencia at their own ground. Back at our place it was a reasonably even game but they took their chance and we didn't take any of ours. If we had of won that game we would have qualified but instead we had to wait until the next match.

[AcidBurn]

So, is "state of the art" after "top" in facilities? Would that make the "top" no longer the top?

Haha, I think state of the art is the best you can get.

Tell them people at Anfield to pull their fingers out AB.

Liverpool always do rubbish on my saves.

[deltablue]

8th seems realistic to me

[AcidBurn]

8th seems realistic to me

Knew someone would say that lol.

More than deserved as Caviglia becomes the first regen to win both awards. Apparently his performances for Argentina in the World Cup went a long way to him sealing the award.