FM10 - Lesbeavinyou! The Norwich City Thread

NORWICH CITY FC

Norwich City

Full name: Norwich City Football Club

Nickname(s): The Canaries

Founded: 17 June 1902[1]

Ground: Carrow Road

(Capacity: 26,034)

Chairman: Alan Bowkett

Manager: Paul Lambert

League: League One

2008–09: The Championship, 22nd

(relegated)

Norwich City FC, Norfolk's only Football League side, are - in my view - one of the game's best challenges. With last season's relegation to League One, a squad rebuilt from the ground up and recent managerial and staff changes occuring on an almost six month basis, any aspiring manager taking them over will have a very short period of time to bed in a new squad, off load any remaining deadwood you may think necessary to offload and bring in players capable of meeting the team's expectations of an immediate return to the Championship.

City are a team with a great and proud history - including what is believed to be the country's oldest terrace song,

The history of Norwich City F.C. stretches back to 1902. After a brief period in amateur football, the club spent 15 years as a semi-professional team in the Southern League before admission to The Football League in 1920. For most of the next 50 years, Norwich City F.C. sat in Division Three (South), then the joint lowest tier of the football league, a period that was distinguished by "a thrilling giant-killing sequence which took them to the FA Cup semi-finals" in 1959.[1][2] Shortly afterwards, the club won its first major trophy, the 1962 League Cup.[3] Norwich finally reached the pinnacle of the league structure in 1972, with their first promotion to the top tier.

Since then, Norwich City has acquired a reputation as a "yo-yo club",[4] with 21 seasons in the top league and 15 in the second tier, where they currently reside.[5][6] It is during this period that the club has achieved most of its greatest distinctions, claiming its second major trophy, the League Cup in 1985,[7] reaching two more FA Cup semi finals,[8] finishing fifth, fourth and third in the top division and beating Bayern Munich in the UEFA Cup.

In the course of its history, Norwich City has survived a number of incidents that threatened its survival, including ousting from amateur football, the need to be re-elected to The Football League and financial crises. Geoffrey Watling, who was to become club Chairman and after whom a stand at the club's stadium, Carrow Road is named, was instrumental in saving the club from bankruptcy, both in the 1950s and 1990s; his father had played a similar role in 1919.

For more information, please see this wikipedia article.

Alongside Leeds and Charlton, Norwich have a reputation that rivals most in the Championship - allowing you to attract perhaps a greater quality of player - and a set of fans as loyal and supporting as you can get. And with a new, more ruthless board keen on success on a low budget, it's clear as manager you're going to have to make the most of the resources available to you.

Still interested? Excellent! Let's have a look at the squad.

Goalkeepers

Michael Theokilitis - The Australian Goalkeeper has had a disasterous start to life at Carrow Road in the real world. But in FM10, he looks a reasonable keeper. Definitely good enough for a season at the top of league one.

Frasier Forster - On loan from Newcastle Utd (and the only loanee in this season's starting squad), Forster looks a good young keeper. The question is, do you extend his loan for the season, or....

Declan Rudd - ...give your young keeper a bit of responsibility? Starts strangely on the transfer list but has the potential to match Theokilitis according to the coaches.

Full Backs

Adam Drury - Mr Dependable, Drury is one of your few Championship quality players. But with his quality comes a high wage. Do you offload to get that cash back, or keep him around to give you a solid, dependable full back?

Rhoys Wiggins - Young left back brought from Crystal Palace during the summer. In my view, he's good enough to deputise to Drury and for that reason I keep him around. May even be a ready made replacement should you decide to offload Drury to free up the wages.

Jon Otsemobor - The only recognised right back at Norwich, Otsemobor is quick but defensively poor - both in the game and in real life. With Michael Spillane able to play here and a host of decent right backs available for free, Otsemobor is a player you will have to think carefully about.

Center Halves

Jen Berthal Askou - The big Dane is earmarked as one of your best players and without a doubt he is. Big, strong and defensively decent, Askou is one of the first names on my teamsheet. His partner, however, is a different story.

Michael Spillane - Able to play on the right, in the center and in midfield as a defensive midfielder, Spillane is a useful, versatile player with youth on his side. In addition, unlike any other center half, he has a bit of pace.

Michael Nelson - A poorer vrsion of Askou, Nelson is tall, strong but not as defensively decent. His leadership qualities slightly make up for that though.

Gary Doherty - The Ginger Pele is a bit of a legend at Norwich. He has the makings of a great central defender - except he's prone to the odd mistake. Or dozen. His high wages usually mean I get rid, but to others he could be Askou's perfect partner.

Wingers

Wes Hoolahan - More of an attacking midfielder than winger, Wes is an important player for City. In the game he's decent enough for a lower Champ team and in my view could be an important player.

Simon Whaley - Another new player, Whaley is definitely better in game than in reality. Despite being your best right winger, Whaley isn't really awfully impressive and I've made it my mission to find a replacement.

Paul McVeigh - Brought back by Gunn but not good enough to really be involved in my view. I'l keep him around as a useful, versatile squad player and no more.

Simon Lappin - Lappin can play in the middle of the park, but is best on the left of midfield where his crossing is most effective. He is by far the best set piece taker in the squad and for that alone is a useful player. But how do you reconcile him with Hoolahan?

Central Midfielders

Matt Gill - Defensive minded midfielder from Exeter, Gill is a busy player but lacks the skill to really be effective. A useful player to keep in the squad, however.

Owain Tudur Jones - Another defensive midfielder who seems to be thought more of in game than in reality. He's got good stats and could be a useful player in certain situations.

Darel Russell - Strong and decent on the ball with an ability to score a goal, Rusty gives you someone who won't stop working an entire game. One of my two central midfielders.

Stephen Hughes - Come in number two! Where Rusty is strong and hard working, Hughes is creative and skillful. Together, I think they make a decent foil.

Strikers

Chris Martin - Woefully underrated in game, Martin starts out available on loan and should either be kept on the loan list or sold.

Cody McDonald - While statistically Cody is spot on, I'm disappointed he doesn't have the potential to grow further - again, wrong in my view. As he is he isn't good enough and I place him on the transfer list.

Jamie Cureton - Good statistically but another on high wages. I'm trying to sell - without much luck.

Goran Maric - The big Serb has the stats to be a good all round striker and decent target man. And if it weren't for a certain Grant Holt, I'd be playing him weekly.

Grant Holt - The big man is a strong and capable target man capable of scoring a few as well. Initially I played him with Maric, but find the lack of pace doesn't suit my tactics. With that in mind, Holt becomes my big man with Maric kept around as his back up. I'm now on the hunt for a good, quick striker to partner them with.

My first eleven:

GK - Theokilitis

DR - Otsemobor

DL - Drury

DC - Askou

DC - Nelson

MR - Whaley

ML - Hoolahan

MC - Rusty

MC - Hughes

TM - Holt

ST - Maric

The squad in general is good in places and poor in others. I've set out to find a better right winger and a decent striker or two to partner and challenge Grant Holt as priority with a right back as necessary as well. However, you could assess things different. Perhaps you feel the central defence needs improving, or perhaps Theokilitis is as much of a liability in game as in real life.

Whatever you feel, you must pick your targets carefully. As said, there is a limited budget and a strong need to bounce back at the first opportunity. Failure to do that could spell disaster for the club. I hope this thread will contain a lot of great information about this great challenge and I hope you will join me in giving it a good stab!

OTBC!

No takers so far? I'm sure last year's NCFC players will join in soon enough. Anyway, a little about some of the players I've found so far in the demo.

I've sold Gary Doherty (to Notts County for £120k) and Cody McDonald (I think Swindon or Gillingham for £20k) and have terminated Jamie Cureton's contract by mutual consent (£85k). That has freed up quite a chunk of wages and added about £80k to the pot.

I've extended Frasier Forster's loan deal for the season to give me back up to Theokilitis. The buzzards are swarming around Simon Lappin and I've set a fee at around £250k. If anyone meets it he can go.

Now, on to the purchases! I lost out on Elliot Omozusi to Huddesfield and so signed Danny Mills on a two year deal for free. Good, solid signing with plenty of experience. My staff recommended Neil Mellor, on the transfer list at Preston for £95k to and I swooped to sign him. Mellor is a class act and will partner the best of my signings - Polish international striker Ebi Smolarek. Smolarek has all the statistics to be a top quality Championship striker - let alone League One. I had to adjust my budget to offer him a very lucrative contract to get him ahead of Ajax, but I think it's going to be worth it. That gives me a strike force of Smolarek, Mellor, Holt and Maric which I think will be comfortably good enough for League One. Finally I've season loaned very promising wide midfielder Tomasz Kupisz from Wigan. H's got all the attributes to be an excellent winger at this level.

More later!

So far I've sold Doherty for £85k to Notts County, Otsemobor for £150k (could of got a sell on fee I think but that's useless in the demo). Tried to offload Cureton, McVeigh and a few of the reserve team but no takers and most have just joined the team. I'm turning down £130k offers for Lappin from several Championship clubs, I'd like the money but Hoolahon loses condition so quickly I need a good backup.

Coming in were Omozusi. Had to offer him indispensable and a signing on fee (which i'd normally leave at £0) to win his signiture. Also brought in Pele a 31 year old DC from Cape Verde who was at West Brom last season but is available on a free he has been great so far as a ball playing CB, and is only on £1,200 a week.

The strike force needs a bit of work, but I am scoring plenty of goals. Maric and Holt actually seem to be a good partnership, and even Martin and McDonald are scoring a few goals. RM and DR are still problem areas, neither has any proper backup and there are too many MC/DM for my liking.

Overall it seems to be going okay. Obviously once the full game is out I'll sack the entire backroom staff .

Player's in: Glauber - CB (Free), Lauren - RB (Free), Elliot Omozusi - RCB (Free), Rudi Skacel - D/AML (Free), Silviu Lung JR - GK (Free), Max Gradel - ARL (Loan), Reuben Reid - ARL (Loan)

Player's out: Gary Doherty, Jon Otseobor - 250k, Simon Lappin - 250k, Cody McDonald - 55k, Adam Drury - 200k, Declan Rudd - Loan

Still got a budget of 553k. Think I need another striker, not too sure who to go for.

Playing 4-4-2

GK - Lung JR

RB - Lauren

LB - Skacel

CB - Omozusi

CB - Glauber

MR - Max Gradel

ML - Wes Hoolahan

MC - Stephan Hughes

MC - Darel Russel

ST - Goran Maric

ST - Grant Holt

Played 2 games. First, beat Colchester 3v0. Second, beat Port Vale 5v3 with my 2nd string.

Okay I've now sold on McDonald for £100k, and Martin for £50k. Martin got annoyed I didn't praise him enough after he scored in the League Cup, he then failed to turn up for training and got the hump after I fined him two weeks wages.

Brought in John Sutton from Motherwell for £40k, he was on the transfer list. Similar type of striker to Maric and Holt but better technically. My coaches rate him as 4 stars and buying him dropped Holt to 2.5 stars. He's scored 8 goals in 6 games (against mainly poor for League One teams) so far as a Target Man and Maric as a Poacher along side him. I'm finding Maric and Holt to both be rather inconsistent.

[edit] Plus you get the bonus of seing Sutton on the scoresheets and it reminds me at least of happier times .

Maric seems overrated in the game, although irl we still don't know a great deal about him.

To me it seems they have noticed our youth coming through, but they don't appear ready quite yet, I have been using Korey Smith in midfield, and played Adeyemi, Dumic, Rudd and Daley in the cup vs Lincoln.

I too tried to sign Omozuzi who strangely went to Huddersfield in my demo too. I have raided to bosman market signing Antwi to partener Askou, Willy Topp is proving a useful partner for Holt. In midfield I signed Flavien Bensen on a free and spent £240k on Andrea Orlandi, and finally in defence signed Christian Gyan at right back.

I went unbeaten in pre-season including a 7-0 win at Berwick and my young players won 8-0 at Dereham.

In goal I am playing Forster with Rudd as back up, no matter how good he may be in the game I simply refuse to play Theodropsit!

I haven't bothered trying to sell anyone yet, as it doesn't seem worth it in the demo.

I would also say with a bank balance of £5million and fund of £500k, this is too much, considering how many new players are already there for us, I would say a realistic transfer fund should be £0, meaning we have to buy to sell.

Excellent OP LincolnCanary, sounds like interesting times ahead. Can't wait to start with the Caneries when the game comes out

just starting up with norwich as per usual ,ill update soon

Ive just Started up a Canaries challenge for me in the demo, and due to my slow game pace I have only played the one game so far, against my own reserves. We won that 2-1 but Maric may find himself being replaced, and John Sutton is a possible candiate for that. I may be interested in bringing dome loanees of premiership quality like Daniel Sturridge and Geovanni Dos Santos without costing any of my wage budget. Cody McDonald to me is going to be that sub (as in real life), that comes on, blisters round the back and scores.

Paul McVeigh, the name brings joy to me just by typing it. My favourite player of all time partly due to one game at carrow Road (02/03 I think) Were he scored a smashing 30 yard screamer to send us with 3 points against a Reading side. Started him as a Right Midfieder going into the reserves match and he set up the first goal.

One high profile signing prehaps coming my way is none other than Dutch Right Midfielder Andy Van Der Meyde, the former Everton signing.

Great OP LincolnCanary and OTBC

The second game against Berwick finished 3-0, and we dominated all the way through. Wes Hoolahan bagged one and Jamie Cureton got 2 and really that looks to be my most prominent strike pair Cureton and Holt, along with Maric as a sub.

Jon Otsemebor has already skipped training once due to the pressure the media has around him, and i'm seriously considering letting him go. Two possible replacement line up in wait, Danny Mills and former Arsenal player Lauren. Geovanni Dos Santos rejected my contract offer along with Daniel Sturridge but I am still considering Andy Van Der Meyde, but his lack of pace concernes me...

Hi Saxonaitor,

Sounds like you've got off to a good start. About Van Der Meyde, I must admit I considered him before finding my Polish loanee from Wigan. I decided on the loanee over him because of better work rate. But as for pace, I don't consider it too big a problem for wingers to be lacking in pace so long as they work hard.

Hope that helps in your decision making.

I have started a game with Norwich and I am second by 1 goal after 6 games which includes 4 wins and 2 draws. I have signed John Sutton for 40k as well as Neil Mellor for 95k so that is my first choice. Adam Drury and his 4k wage was sold for 150k and Skacel came in for free on his 2k wage. Ritchie De Laet is on loan as well as John Bostock. Jose Baxter is also on loan to play right mid when Stephen Hughes is needed in the middle. I also signed Elliot Ozomusi (sp?) for free. Desperate to get rid of Cureton but no one wants him and it will cost 250k to terminate

The second game against Berwick finished 3-0, and we dominated all the way through. Wes Hoolahan bagged one and Jamie Cureton got 2 and really that looks to be my most prominent strike pair Cureton and Holt, along with Maric as a sub.

Jon Otsemebor has already skipped training once due to the pressure the media has around him, and i'm seriously considering letting him go. Two possible replacement line up in wait, Danny Mills and former Arsenal player Lauren. Geovanni Dos Santos rejected my contract offer along with Daniel Sturridge but I am still considering Andy Van Der Meyde, but his lack of pace concernes me...

Another two games played today, against Ebsfleet and Lowestoft. The scores respectably were 3-0 and 7-0 and i'm pleased about them both. I got Manchester United as a parent club and subsequently have got Fabien Brendy on loan for the rest of the season. Still no word from Lauren but I have decided not to go with Andy Van Der Meyde. The search is still on for a DR and a MR..

Having a little go with Norwich on the demo and doing well so far.

Sold - McDonald to Chesterfield for 75k, Doherty to Notts County for 250k and Lappin to Notts County for 250k.

Signed - Pele for free, Peter Gilbert for free, Omozusi for free, Skacel for free and Sutton from Motherwell for 40k.

Playing a 4-4-2 with short passing and lots of pressing. Preseason saw us win all but one game against Wolves. Scoring 28 and conceding 3. Sutton scored 11 in 7 and Holt 9 in 7. Darel Russell assisting in 8 goals in 8 games.

Player's in: Glauber - CB (Free), Lauren - RB (Free), Elliot Omozusi - RCB (Free), Rudi Skacel - D/AML (Free), Silviu Lung JR - GK (Free), Max Gradel - ARL (Loan), Reuben Reid - ARL (Loan)

Player's out: Gary Doherty, Jon Otseobor - 250k, Simon Lappin - 250k, Cody McDonald - 55k, Adam Drury - 200k, Declan Rudd - Loan

Still got a budget of 553k. Think I need another striker, not too sure who to go for.

Playing 4-4-2

GK - Lung JR

RB - Lauren

LB - Skacel

CB - Omozusi

CB - Glauber

MR - Max Gradel

ML - Wes Hoolahan

MC - Stephan Hughes

MC - Darel Russel

ST - Goran Maric

ST - Grant Holt

Played 2 games. First, beat Colchester 3v0. Second, beat Port Vale 5v3 with my 2nd string.

May I ask what tactics you are using? I wouldn't mind giving them a go.

As you would expect I always play as Norwich.

Haven't had the chance to play the demo much yet, but decided on a First Team vs Reserves runout in order to check out the whole squad. Holt tore his groin and is out for 4 months! Remind me not to chose that option in the real game

Doing really well so far, played 5 in the league, won them all scored 11 conceded 3. Lost 5-0 to Burnley in the league cup.

Ins:

Rudi Skacel (free)

Glauber (free)

Lauren (free)

Ivan Campo (free)

Mark Viduka (free)

Rohan Rickets (free)

Elliot Omozusi (free)

Gohkan (loan - Chelsea)

Ian Walker (free)

Paul Wotton (Southampton - 70k)

Jose Baxter (Everton - loan)

Sol Campbell (free)

Jordan Henderson (Sunderland - loan)

Out:

Cody Mac - Shrewsbury - 110k

Korey Smith - QPR - 250k

Michael Spillane - Notts Co - 325k

Simon Lappin - Notts Co - 160k

Gary Doherty - Notts Co - 100k

Jon Otsemobor - QPR - 300k

Thank God for money-bags QPR and Notts County! My back 4 is top championship quality, Glauber and Campbell allow me to play attacking football and Wotton/Campo in the hole helps to clean up the mess.

I play a 4-1-2-1-2 which works well, Viduka and Mellor up top (on the save game I lost I had Smolarek and Viduka, which was awesome) my main bit of advice? play Hoolahan in the hole as a trequarista he's excellent there, set as a playmaker with Viduka my play to feet targetman

So, just days before the full game is released. Any thoughts from anyone? Any definites that you'll look to snap up?

I'm liking Neil Mellor. I think he's going to be one I look into and hope he's on the transfer list for as cheap in the full game. Found, strangely, that he seems to be a better target man when ordered to play into his feet. Which with strength, jumping and heading statistics on him all being quite good, is a surprise.

Not sure what to make of John Sutton. For whatever reason he doesn't seem to settle into my tactics. Misses shots he really shouldn't be but works as hard as Holty does. I think for me, if Mellor isn't available i'll look into Sutton.

Lauren and Tomasz Kupisz for me are essential buys. Alot of people here seem to lean towards Omozusi - nothing wrong with that considering his age and everything, but having played games with both, Lauren is comfortably been the better for me. Kupisz has been my star and I will make him my first signing.

Does anyone replace the staff that Norwich start with? Frankly I think they're appauling and sack nearly the lot of them (fitness coach and gk coach excluded). I've been relying on a blast from the past as my assistant - Doug Livermore. He's got great stats and seems to be a good choice for assistant. Otherwise I'd recommend John Murtagh (I think that's how you spell it) as youth coach and Tony Whelan from Manchester Utd as coach.

What are people's thoughts on Micky Spillane? I have on a couple of occasions transfer listed him - he doesn't seem to have the potential to grow as a player and I don't see him being good enough to be kept around in those circumstances. But his versatility and lack of decent right backs at the club often lead me to have a rethink.

Anyway, looking forward to Friday and the full game!

Given the original post a small upgrade Hope you like!

I started with Norwich and took Daniel Pacheco on loan from Liverpool he so far has scored 3 goals in pre-season, so fingers crossed he carrys on in the league.

I managed to offload Cody Mac for 120k! Was pretty pleased with that considering he was valued at 50k. For some reason my coaching staff didn't think that was a good idea though...

I've brought in Amoroso (remember him?!) on a free. At 35 it'd be easy to dismiss him but he can definitely still provide goals in league 1, his technical and mental stats are great, his wages are a little high though. Also brought in Vladimir Weiss on loan to stick out on the right, he's quick and can cross and take free kicks, so cant go wrong really.

So far i'm looking good in the season, winning all but one which I drew and sitting second behind leeds after 6 games. Been knocked out of the league cup (by Newcastle tbf) and the johnstons paint trophy though.

All in all it looks like FM 10's gonna be a really interesting challenge for Norwich this season.

And well done again with this LincolnCanary, followed your norwich thread for FM09 too!

After my poor attempts with the Canaries last year, i am back for another go. Firstly, thanks for the great thread again LincolnCanary, very helpful :)This season will be an enjoyable challenge and i am looking forward to seeing Norwich back in the EPL.

So day one of the new game and i have made quite a few changes already to the squad. At the back, I have brought in the ex Liverpool defender Godwin Antwi on a free transfer to fight with Nelson and Askou after i sold the Doc for £140k. I am happy with the full backs at the club, with good cover on both sides but I brought in Lauren at right back to partner Drury on the left.

Centre midfield looks to be strong for city this season, with Tudor-Jones, Hughes, Russell, Gill and Smith all fighting it out for the starting spots. This is somewhere which doesn't need changing this year. The wingers are a different problem though, having not been impressed by Whaley and unfortantly McVeigh not cutting it anymore. I have brought in two right wingers, Kenny Pavey at just £24k from AIK in Sweden. He has performed well in pre-season and is a tireless winger. The other winger i have brought in is Tomasz Kupisz, after the recommendation by LincolnCanary, who has done excellent in pre-season and will start as number one on the right hand side. On the left, i will use the trickery of Wes Hoolahan to craete chances. The left winger needs moe cover as Wes is a the only decent winger there.

Up front has seen a change as well, with both Cody McDonald and Chris Martin being sold for £110k and £120k respectively. I have brought in Willy Topp as back up, a good piece of business for this league. However, my best signing to date has been Henri Camera, who at 32 still has a couple of years left in him, especially at league 1! Him, along with Holt, Maric and Topp will hopefully fire me into the Championship at the first attempt.

Having looked through the Tatic and Training Forums for inspiration, i have decided on a 4-5-1 formation, based on the Newcastle Tactic (league domination) http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php?t=159624

The tactic has worked well, with my last match ending in a 3-1 away win against Burnley I have also beaten the local teams easily, winning 4-0 and 5-0 a couple of times.

I will post you an update later on with my league results and anyone more buys

Since my last post, Weiss has been crippled playing against Bristol Rovers, out for 3-4 months with cruciate damage. Particularly unfortunate as he was bringing assists from all over the place. So having a long old search for someone I can bring in to cover that loss (I just sent him back to his club) I managed to find Camel Meriem. French midfielder who's available on a free, I'd definitely recomend having a look at him, his wages are at the top end of the budget but in all honesty he's going to tear league 1 apart. Naturally an attacking centre mid he can provide good cover on both wings though, but use him as a playmaker and he's going to provide and score a hell of a lot. Scored 2 on his debut

ncfcgr8, I noticed camara too and you're right about him, I had to decide between him and Meriem though because of wages and at atm i'm having no problem scoring goals so went with the midfielder

anyway, 11 games in I've won 9 and drawn 2 and sitting pretty at the top of the leaugue. The only thing that's worrying me slightly is that I seem to be winning through attrition.

If someone wouldn't mind letting me know how I can put screenshots on here I'll provide a couple for you guys to have a look.

Great Find bingham66 with Meriem, unfortantly West Brom snapped him up

How do I Post a Screenshot?

1. Ensure that any version of Football Manager is open

2. Go to the screen you want to show

3. Press 'Prt Sc', normally next to or near F12 on your keyboard

4. Open Paint, or a similar program

5. Paste the image by either pressing 'Ctrl + V' or going to edit, then paste.

6. Save the file as a JPEG

7. Upload the image to an image hosting site, such as PhotoBucket or ImageShack

8. Post the Direct URL onto this site

Or

1. Ensure that any version of Football Manager after Football Manager 2008 is open

2. Go to the screen you want to show

3. Press Alt+F9

4. A screenshot of what you want will be saved in My Documents\Sports Interactive\Football Manager __\Screenshots

5. Upload the image to an image hosting site, such as PhotoBucket or ImageShack

6. Post the Direct URL onto this site

Hope that helps

cheers for that...images to follow!

I think I've done this right...

http://i757.photobucket.com/albums/xx213/bingham84/NorwichCity.png

http://i757.photobucket.com/albums/xx213/bingham84/Coca-ColaLeague1.png

i have just signed up to this board intrested to see what kind off FM talk went on and i wasnt expecting this. As a norwich fan im amazed to see this as a sticky thread up there with likes of united and arsnel on these boards =] its made my day.

any way on to business lol, ive made so far quite similar sigings, John Sutton for 45k, Neil Mellor for 80k, i got Andy vader madar on a free (potential gamble?) but he's on low wages, also got Omozusi on a free too. Im having trouple finding anyone to cover my centerback's though since im not totally confortable with the currunt situation. Also looking to get in a couple of season long loans if there sensible (dont worry im not planning a glen roader here...)

i'd suggest Vladimir Weiss for loan on the right wing, perfect choice for league 1.

It's funny the differences of opinion with the centre backs. For me that was one of the positions that didn't need any work as I'm finding Nelson, Doc and Askou all good enough...particularly Askou who's averaging about 7.4 for me at the moment.

I think my wheeling and dealing is done for the seaon now unless I find a real gem...any feed back on my team would be appreciated though

http://i757.photobucket.com/albums/x...orwichCity.png

Got Max Gradel and Ruben Reid on season long loans aswell as Rhys Murphy up front. Picked up pele on a free as cover at CB. A lot of the youngsters have been very impressive for me in pre season. Smith, Habergham, Dawkin, Adeyemi, Rudd, Dumic have all had excellent performances against the likes of Hull city and Ip*h*t. Intrestingly i see a lot of people are offloading Chrissy Martin but he has been prolific for me scoring 6 in 3 starts and looks to that he will be prolific in league 1, wouldnt be supprised if he finished as top scorer in the league.

High praise indeed for Martin

I've not gotten rid but I've got him playing in the ressies, doesn't seem to be fulfilling his potential in the first team

Just started my Norwich game on the full game. Sacked all the backroom staff except for Crook, I'm going to let his contract run out, made the mistake of forgetting to advertise for a new Assistant (i'm only going to buy players/staff I have scouted or that have been recommended by my existing staff).

So far not brought any one in. Sold off Doherty £100k (wages are too high), McDonald £100k +25% sell on fee (no room for improvement), and trying to get rid of Martin £50k +20% sell on fee (also no room for improvement). Friendlies have gone okay, won them all easily except for one against Ipswich, playing a 4-4-1-1 due to a lack of strikers and an abundance of midfielders.

Martin and McDonald proved capable of scoring goals in League One when I used then on a couple of Demo games. They don't have any room for further growth and you need to be bringing in Championship Quality players not sticking with your current squad.

It's great to see lots of people taking their first FM10 careers with the canaries! and thanks to Lincolncanary for this amazing OP and starting this thread.

10 games into my season, im not doing too well, sitting mid table and i keep drawing games. I was trying to bring my successful 4-2-3-1 from fm09 to fm10, but that hasn't worked so im going for a basic 4-4-2. I am interested to know if people are playing with a target man/ playmaker, which i assume would be Holt/ Hoolahan. I managed to get man city as a parent club who kindly sent me Vladimir Weiss who looks excellent. And i was amazed when Sol Campbell accepted me over portsmouth and newcastle! i wasn't planning on signing him after i had pele and soley but how could i not! I also thought that askou was a better version of doherty so he had to go, i am trying to sell jamie cureton without luck, and im keeping hold of lappin for now.

Transfers out:

Gary Doherty (100k) to doncaster

Transfers in: ( free unless stated)

Jean-Joel Perrier-Doumbe D/WB RL

Andrea Orlandi AMRL (240k)

Pele DC/DM/MC

Seyfo Soley DC/DM/MC

Sol Campbell DC

Jose Baxter AMRC/FC (season long loan)

Vladimir Weiss AMRC (season long loan)

Rhys Murphy ST (3 months loan)

Jay Emmanuel-Thomas DC/DM/MLC (3 month loan)

good luck to everyone else and OTBC!

a new FM and a new challenge! I decided to go with a relatively successful 4-1-3-2 formation and have adopted a 'controlling' style of game. I'm three games in (two L1 and one League Cup) and beat Colchester 4-1, beat Darlington 2-0 and beat Exeter 3-0. I've moved quite a few players in and out very early in the season (before second pre-season game) but once that was done I've made no changes in order for the team to work together as quickly as possible. Have Liverpool as a parent club but they haven't sent me anyone as a loan and I've removed two of my feeder teams and taken on Morecambe instead. I believe having a L2 feeder team will give me a good opportunity to send fringe players to get some first team action rather then mucking about in reserves.

I was only given 500K for transfer budget (strange as in the demo i got 1mill?) and am conscious of reducing the wage budget. I found this easy to do and have had the following players taken off the books:-

Darel Russel 200K to West Brom

Wes Hoolahan 250K to Leeds (his value was much higher but he had a damn release clause!)

Korey Smith 120K to Preston

Simon Lappin 85K to Bristol Rovers

Cody McDonald 50K to Gillingham

Michael Spillane 100K to Notts County

Jon Otsembor 130K to Brighton

Gary Doherty 70K to Gillingham

Adam Drury 95K to Brighton

This freed up quite abit of the salary budget and I then adjusted budgets to increase wages to virtually the maximum and started searching for some freebies:-

Glauber (DC)

Iliasu Shilla (DC) - has been a star at the corners when challenging keeper (corners played into 6 yard box)

Ebi Smolarek (TGM)

Berkant (ST) - hat trick against Colchester and has 5 goals in three games!

Brahim Hemdani (DC/DM)

Camel Meriem (AMLRC) - great buy, wages on the steep side but still youngish and heaps of assists

Bakary Soro (DR/DC)

Cristian Moro (GK) - must buy. top quality and reasonable wages

Tried to get Sol Campbell but he went to West Brom and also German Villa but he accepted HSV. Have released most of the staff as i found them to be appalling and trawled the free agents to fill up the scouts and coaches. Am very happy with the team and have been drawn against Ips**t in the next round of the League Cup... On the ball!

quick update - in the league i've played 9, won 8, drawn 1 (fought back to draw 2-2 away at Brentford) - 21 goals for, 5 against. Berkant is leading goal scorer with 9 goals. i cannot recommend him enough! beat Ips**t in the League Cup but then lost @ home to Hull 2-3. I was pleased with the result but the fans were disappointed as they expected a win?!

Bought in a few more freebies as well:-

Serginho Greene (DR)

Yakubu Abubakari (DR/DM)

Djamel Belmadi (AMRC) - great buy, good at set pieces and whilst he is getting on a bit i might be able to get a few years out of him!

Pretty much settled on my squad and tactics seem to be working very well. Disappointed in level of scouting - can only do UK/Ireland and France?! So i haven't been able to scout alot of the players that have been recommended on the site.

Good luck all =]

Ins:

Campo, Davids, Vieri, Babayaro, Elliot O, Vargas, Bleidelis, Sibierski, Strasser (FREE)

Steven Smith (Rangers ~150K)

Outs:

K. Smith (425K), Lappin (250K), Drury (250K), Spillane (350K), McDonald (50K)

Played 5, Won 1, Drawn 2, Lost 2

Lost league cup rd 2 to Sheff Utd.

I just wanted to show you guys this;

http://i757.photobucket.com/albums/xx213/bingham84/YeovilvNorwich.png

5 goals in 35 mins for my main man amoroso! Anyone else had such a storming game from someone yet?

I used this formation ; http://i757.photobucket.com/albums/xx213/bingham84/YeovilvNorwich-2.png which might have helped. so i figured I'd stick with it...unfortunately I lost my next three games! Just gone back to a 442 now, started to struggle a little in the league as I've dropped from 2nd to 5th.

Hi, nice thread LincolnCanary.

I'd like to give Norwich a go sometime in the future when I have time, so honestly do you think it's a good save, and what's the best tactic around that suits the team best.

Thanks.

harewood must buy. after you play the cup game right at start ask for more money then you can afford him

Edixon Perea...goes on a free in january and is awesome! I managed to get him ahead of Boro (not sure how), but he's turning my season around all on his own.

Well I got sacked, twice, for trying to play pretty short passing football. I'm now on to much more direct, high tempo, high pressing tactic and it seems to be going better.

Missed out on just about every free agent. Did manage to bring in Gareth Williams and Jean-Joel Perrier-Doumbe. Gareth is a bit injury prone, and he is less physical and mentally tough then Russell but he is technically much better. So I sold Russell to Ipswich which the fans weren't happy about, blamed me of cause but he chose them over 4 other clubs. I've not missed him as although he is great physically the only use I could find for him was as tough tackling midfielder, he couldn't shoot, pass, head and was poor at dribbling so he was easily replaced by the remaining midfielders who have lower wages. Plus of course he is the only MC you can actually sell in the first window.

Squad is looking a bit threadbare with Spillane £250k +20% s/o, Doherty £150k, Ostemobor £220k +20% s/o, Kelly £2.5k, McDonald £160k + 20% s/o, Russell £250k +10% s/o (could of got more I think but I didn't negotiate at all), and McVeigh released all gone. Hopefully Cureton and maybe Martin will follow them. I've actually had success selling Cureton in the actual game, once the window gets close to closing I've managed to sell him for £0 to Southampton in both my previous Norwich attempts. Could of sold Korey Smith but I like him he is decent and cheap wages plus he has been one of our best players in RL .

Only brought in Gareth Williams, Jean-Joel Perrier-Doumbe both free and Jose Baxter on loan. Still haven't decided on who my number one keeper is yet, but I'm leaning towards Forster, and who is my top target man Maric or Holt.

On the staff side I've not found anyone really great. I've been using Richard Hill as my ass. man. on each game not very good at coaching but good Motivating, Man Management, Tactical Knowledge, Level of Discipline, and decent Determination. Good enough for League One anyway.

Have re-started with City after my mess about with the demo, sadly it appears realism is out the window here, as my first signing was the bosman signing of Edgar Davids, now I know he is 36 but there is no way he should be signing for Norwich on £3,100 a week.

So anyway so far my transfer dealings are such:

Ins:

Edagar Davids - Free (and new club captain)

Andy Van Der Meyde - Free

Pele - Free

Maurice Ross - Free

Silviu Lung Jr - £250,000

Outs:

Doherty - £150,000 Barnsley

Otsemobor - £250,000 Forest (their fans were not happy)

Lappin - £200,000 Brighton

Made attempts to sign John Sutton, had a negotiated offer of £200,000 accepted (you can't get him for the £40k you could in the demo), but he decided a move to England was not for him, Omozuzi went to WBA, Ebi Smolarek went to Celta Vigo and Steven Smith went to QPR.

Pre season went very well, including a creditable draw at home to Bayern Munich 2-2 after being 2-0 down at half time.

Pre Season:

Norwich Res (h) 3-0 win

Kings Lynn (a) 3-0 win

Ross County (a) 4-1 win

Wolves (h) 0-0

Bayern Munich (h) 2-2

Dereham (a) 3-0 win

GH Acadamy (h) 2-0 win

Lowestoft (a) 3-0 win

League One

Colchester (h) 1-1 (gutted to concede in the 5th minute injury time)

Ok folks, I just finished my first season (I've had a bit of time off work!). I won promotion through the play offs eventually. Not and ideal way to go up but hell, i'll take it.

Players of the season for me are without a doubt Omuzusi and Edixon Perea, who I signed in January and he basically got me promoted with 21 goals in 19 games.

Let me know how you all do.

Well, the season is up for me too and it was last day disappointment, finishing 7th by one point. Apart from from 2 horrible winless runs, I thought I played rather well. Was doing well after an excellent start, leading the league after 6 games before the tactic i was using started to stop working so well. After dropping down to mid table and with the pressure on me, i slowed moved up the league, pushing the play-off places by Christmas. By March, I ws in second place and everything looked good for promotion before any other winless run started and i dropped out of the play off completely, needing a win in the last match to save my season.

Overall, the team performed well, with Goran Maric and Henri Camera finishing top scorer with 21 goals. Over the season, Jen Berthal Askou was a rock at the back, easily my best player of the season, lets hope i can keep on to him! Stephan Hughes played well over the season, being consistant and realiable in midfield. Michael Spillane started out at right back, but by the end of the season was a regular centre back with Askou. Was happy with Declan Rudd's first season, playing as my regular goalkeeper.

Lets hope i can keep my job and improve the squad over the summer

That's unlucky ncfcgr8.

Couple of end of season screenshots...

http://i757.photobucket.com/albums/xx213/bingham84/NorwichCity-2.png

http://i757.photobucket.com/albums/xx213/bingham84/Coca-ColaLeague1-2.png

Always up for the challange with Norwich. Would be King's Lynn as they are my towns team, but due to dodgy FA rulings i will go with the team i actually support in rl. Now about to load up for the first time so i will be trying to get a feel for the new game and also the players.

Anyone who i should def ship out?

@Whisler

Ship out: Otsemobor (I got 150k), Korey Smith (425k), Simon Lappin (150k), Owain Tudur-Jones (180k) and Gary Doherty (80k). Those are the players to sell who are on the edge of 'should I keep or sell them', other than that get rid of anyone who just doesn't look any good. Jamie Cureton for one, I free transfered him just to save on wages.

My advice for transfers in would be Elliot Omozusi (free), Henri Camara (free, top scorer for me), Danny Mills (free) and then any good bargains or loans you see. Good loans for me were Jose Baxter from Everton, Chris Hogg from Hibernian (100k fee though :-/ ) and Michael Woods from Chelsea. I also bought Steven Smith from Rangers for 190k who has been my first choice left back and, in January, Jesper Mikkelsen (20k from ESTAC) who has been my star midfielder. Emmanuel Ledesma might also be a good buy for an attacking player, he was 70k (35k from each of his co-owning teams).

Finished League 1 champs with four games to go

I've nearly finished the 1st season, and loving it, i've got 4 games left and can still finish 2nd but realistically playoffs are more likely.

My team is: (4-2-3-1 asymmetric)

GK: Theoklitis

DR: Perrier-Doumbe (free) average rating 7.02, 5 assists

DL: Drury : so solid 7.05

DC: Askou 7.20 7 goals and starting to score more and more often

DC: Iriekpen (free) 7.11 amazing, 16 pace such a help in league 1

DMC: James Wesokowlovski (sp.) (220k from Leicester) pretty solid, best pass completion in the league 88%

MC: S.Hughes 7.10 8 goals so far 10 assists

ML: Skacel (free) 6.8, not that good but useful

AMR: Whaley 6.9 10 assists but always very poor morale, don't understand why.

AMC: M. Taouil (130k from Kilmarnock) 7.0 8 goals 20 assists, amazing little player

ST: Holt 7.3 absolutely amazing, on 34 goals so far!

Other stuff: lost in JPT final to leeds because of Beckford! Maric also has 15 goals off the bench. Otsemobor wont't stop moaning. I released Cureton, Gill and Mcveigh and noone will buy Hoolahan( he's poor for me). Daley has been good as a sub aswell as Korey Smith occasionally.

Good to see the thread still going strong!

I'm still in the middle of my season but it's going well and I've picked up some players I've not seen mentioned here. So I'll hopefully share in due course when I'm not too busy trying to beat bloody Leeds to the title. Dirty rotten so and so's

Right, so here's my first team for the season. Michael Woods would probably be in Darel Russell's place but his loan ended early and Pietro Clemente scored lots in the first half of the season as ST and then did well for some of the second half as AMC. Cozza also did well as AMC and sometimes AMR but he was so old, and the rest of the time played so well :/ Mills and Omozusi wrestled for first place RB for most of the season but I think Omozusi just clinched it, esp since Mills often covered at CB. Baxter, Anane, Hughes and Whaley were good cover for their respective positions and Viduka did well (got him for free in Jan) but he was slow and Camara was in some good form.

Right, so here's my first team for the season. Michael Woods would probably be in Darel Russell's place but his loan ended early and Pietro Clemente scored lots in the first half of the season as ST and then did well for some of the second half as AMC. Cozza also did well as AMC and sometimes AMR but he was so old, and the rest of the time played so well :/ Mills and Omozusi wrestled for first place RB for most of the season but I think Omozusi just clinched it, esp since Mills often covered at CB. Baxter, Anane, Hughes and Whaley were good cover for their respective positions and Viduka did well (got him for free in Jan) but he was slow and Camara was in some good form.

thanks for the screenshots, could you possibly explain each player role eg. target man, central mid support etc...