[FM10] How many teams must a manager manage...

[weeeman27bob]

...before you can call him a manager?

Having spend most of my FM game time playing as Liverpool, I thought it was time for a change. I felt a career type game was needed. I've also never played more than three seasons of a game, so that was something I felt I need to change too.

The Manager

Meet Alex Byatt. He'll be the manager of the teams I find myself managing.

The Database

10.2, Medium, Top leagues in Spain and England (old computer)

The Team

An all important choice. Obviously I've limited myself in choosing only two top leagues. I know that's not really how a career game works, but along with having a slow computer, I don't really have the desire to manage anywhere other than the top.

But I didn't really want to manage any clubs, nor start unemployed. So a national team beckoned. Big teams were out of the question, and in the end I plumed for the England u21's job.

Managing an u21's team is something I've always wanted to try. England will be good enough for me to be successful, but with Italy in my qualifying group, it won't be too easy!

So, here we go!

[weeeman27bob]

Season 1: Goals Galore!

Updates will be in a different style after this one. This is just to get the ball rolling.

Results:

2009 Results

2010 results

With such quality youngsters available, winning was going to be quite easy. However, the style in which we played our football was, at times, magical. Lots of this came from our creative midfield, with Cattermole, Johnson and Delph all playing big parts.

What set us apart though, was our strikers. James Vaughn and Daniel Sturridge both played very well, but neither of them could match Danny Welbeck. Welbeck scored twice in the first game against Armenia, before scoring a sensational six against Hungary in the next. Another goal came against Italy, but then he smashed another four in against Hungary in the home game. He finished the 2009/10 season with 14 u21 goals to his name, from just eight games.

Star Performer

Without a doubt, the sensational Danny Welbeck. Nobody we played had a match for him, and he dominated games on his own.

Average rating: 8.08

Next Season

Find a club team to manage. International management is fine in small doses, but gets a bit boring after a while. And everyone knows the top managers are club managers!

[weeeman27bob]

Season 2: There's going to be a Toon Army! - Part 1

So, I finished last season unbeaten in the European u21's qualifying. But I wanted more. So with a simple check of the apply for jobs box, we were away. In under a month, I had my first offer. It looked like I was heading up North!

Newcastle

Transfers

After being relegated, Newcastle bounced straight back up again, but the squad wasn't a patch on what it used to be. Granted we had a decent defence and a couple of good attacking players, but nothing compared to what I thought we needed. I was given a budget of £18.75 million, and I intended to use all of it.

The first place I looked was at players without a club. And I struck gold. Two of the last decade's great superstars would be making there was to St. James Park. Patrick Vieria was the first, followed a few days later by none other than David Beckham. They might be old, but the money from shirt sales was top notch.

Next came the transfer list. There were some pretty average buys on there, but hidden amongst them was a gem. Joe Hart was a bargain at £1.6 million from Man City. A top quality keeper was going to make a load of difference in a tough season.

With the defence and midfield starting to look good, it was time to turn my attention to the attacking options. In came two youngsters. Henri Lansbury and John Fleck are only ever going to get better, and are, at least in my opinion, better than the other options. So that just left the strikers. I chose to go big here. £7.5 million up front, followed by £5 million of 48 months was what I paid for French striker Yannis Tafer. It was probably a bit over the top for a player of his quality, but again, he was young. He's pace would also suit a counter attacking game. I still wanted another quality striker though. Jo came in on a season long loan from Man City, and there I had it. My team was sorted.

Transfers

Games

Hartlepool 1 - 3 Newcastle

A nice easy game to get our pre-season started. Xisco netted twice and Fleck added another late on, before they scored in injury time.

Newcastle 0 - 1 Bordeaux

A much better quality of opposition, and a slightly disappointing loss. We matched each other for most of the game, and it could really have gone either way.

Newcastle 2 - 0 Flumiense

Xisco had a cracking game on his own upfront, netting twice. Our defence was solid and didn't give the boys from Brazil much of a chance.

Newcastle 3 - 1 Internacional

A goal in his first start for Jo was overshadowed by David Beckham. A penalty and a spectacular free kick showed why I signed him. He could score goals from set pieces.

West Ham 2 - 0 Newcastle

The first game of the season, so full of hope that we could do well. But we didn't. We were completely outplayed by a mediocre West Ham team, giving worrying signs for the season to come.

Stoke 3 - 1 Newcastle

Surely we could do better against Stoke? It was looking good when Jo scored early on. We were then undone by Rory Delap and his super throw. Two headed goals in the first half, before a penalty in the second, saw them take the points.

Newcastle 2 - 1 Hull

Finally we got a win. Tafer scored from a simple one-on-one, before just four minutes later Beckham dispatched his first free kick of the season. Fagan scored for them, but we managed to hold on.

Newcastle 3 - 0 Birmingham (League Cup)

A solid performance with goals from Tafer, Taylor and a Larsson own goal saw us easily through our first tie.

Newcastle 2 - 2 Manchester United

The first big test of the season. We held off huge pressure in the first half, until Nolan scored an amazing wonder goal in the second. This was quickly followed by a second from Tafer. United hit back quickly, but thanks to some impressive keeping from Joe Hart kept us in the game. Unfortunately, they scored in injury time, but a draw was a great result.

Wolves 3 - 0 Newcastle

From the sublime, to the not so sublime. We were absolutely trounced in a game we really should have competed in. A pure shambles.

Newcastle 3 - 4 Aston Villa

So close, and yet so far. An hour in, and we were 2-nil down. Jo broke the offside trap and slotted home. Before Abonlahor did the same. Then Jo won a penalty which Beckham converted. Then he scored another. Trying to keep the momentum and trying to snatch another goal obviously wasn't a good idea, as we conceded deep in injury time.

Peterborough 0 - 1 Newcastle (League Cup)

We were very lucky this didn't go to a replay. With time running out, I through Ameobi on, and it paid off, as he blasted a finish home, late in the game

Newcastle 1 - 0 Bolton

Another Tafer goal, this time a rather lucky one after a rebound helped us to secure all the points.

Everton 1 - 1 Newcaslte

Another day, another Tafer goal, this one from its usual breakaway. We were always going to struggle to hold on though, but I was pleased we only conceded once, after a powerful header from Cahill at a corner.

Newcastle 2 - 0 Tottenham

Third game unbeaten on the trot. Things were starting to look good. Despite heavy pressure, a Beckham freekick, and a close ranger finish from Lansbury gave us an undeserved win.

Burnley 3 - 0 Newcastle

After another good result, we fell to pieces. I don't even want to talk about it.

Newcastle 1 - 2 Tottenham (League Cup)

With a much more important game against Crystal Palace coming up, I rested most of the key players. We still performed well, with Taylor scoring a powerful finish.

Newcastle 1 - 1 Crystal Palace

A lovely headed goal by Enrique gave us the lead, but we still contrived to draw, and they scored with the very last kick of the game.

League Table - I'm pleased with where we are, and despite some poor performances, we've had some good ones too. With a team full of new players, it was always going to be tough early on.

Star Performer

I haven't mentioned him very much, but Joe Hart has won points on his own, pulling off save after save to keep us in games.

[Saxonaitor]

Interesting to see how easy the U21's were weeman27bob, would you say that is because of the leagues you loaded?

Newcastle looks to be an interesting challenge, hope you can keep them in the Premiership

[lurkingwithintent]

Good start, I'm planning to do a similar career type at some point, so I'll be following this

[weeeman27bob]

Interesting to see how easy the U21's were weeman27bob, would you say that is because of the leagues you loaded?

Newcastle looks to be an interesting challenge, hope you can keep them in the Premiership

I wouldn't say that, no.

I think the tactic that I'm playing works and, apart from Italy, all of the other teams were really quite poor.

Welbeck has just been immense though.

[weeeman27bob]

Season 2: There's going to be a Toon Army! - Part 2

Transfers

We had a very quiet January window really. I didn't have enough money left to go out and buy someone who would make a huge difference, and I really couldn't be bothered to spend ages negotiating for a back up player.

So I turned to loans instead. We came close to getting Pedro in from Barcelona. But he chose Rangers over us. We came close to getting Camacho from Atletico. But he didn't want to come, despite playing very few games in Spain. In the end, I plumped for Guti, who gave us more options from midfield. That was until he got injured in only is second game, and as he is out for 3 months, I sent him back to Madrid. So not overly successful then.

Results

Chelsea 2 - 2 Newcastle

We went to the Bridge not expecting anything at all. However, we took the lead through Alan Smith. Lampard struck back with a long range goal, before Smith scored for a second time with the keeper stranded. Drogba managed to equalise at the end, but it was a great performance from us.

Newcastle 0 - 3 Man City

We just got absolutely rolled over at home by a much better team.

West Brom 1 - 1 Newcastle

We looked like losing this for most of the game. Finally though we scored in the last minute of injury time from a corner. Luck? What luck?

Newcastle 3 - 0 Birmingham

That's more like it! We completely outplayed a team for the first time this season. A slotted finish by Lansbury, a freekick from Beckham, and a one-on-one from Tafer secured us the three points.

Newcastle 1 - 2 Liverpool

If anything, we scored too early as Tafer broke through the defence and slotted home. Despite some spirited defence we eventually went down.

Sunderland 0 - 1 Newcastle

Derby day, and three points. A cracking strike from Gutherie gave us the win.

Arsenal 4 - 2 Newcastle

The scoreline really flattered us. They were 4-nil up at half time. As they relaxed in the second half, we sneaked a couple in, but we were never going to win.

Newcastle 4 - 0 Portsmouth

Back to winning ways against the bottom club. Gutherie scored another cracker, Nolan poked in from close range, a Penalty from Beckham, and a nice curling finish from Taylor.

Newcastle 3 - 1 Stoke

A comfortable victory with a brace from Tafer, and another from Jo. They scored in injury time, but it was just a consolation.

Norwich 0 - 2 Newcastle (FA Cup)

Another comfortable victory, this time at League 1 Norwich. A lovely solo goal from Lansbury, and powerful header from Vieria took us through to the next round.

Manchester United 2 - 2 Newcastle

A great performance here. We scored early on as Coloccini headed in from a corner. They struck back with goals either side of half time, but the game changed when Hargreeves was sent off. We played much better against 10 men, but still didn't look like scoring. That was until Jo latched on to a through ball, and rounded Foster in the fifth minuted of injury time, to snatch a very undeserved draw.

Hull 0 - 0 Newcastle

Zzzzzzzzzz.... Anything happened yet.... no?... zzzzzzzzzz.....snore.....

Aston Villa 3 - 1 Newcastle

Another game where we were outplayed. Jonas struck a late goal, but it was far too late.

Tottenham 1 - 0 Newcastle (FA Cup)

Another cup competition, another Spurs game. I knew we were never going to win, but a weakened team performed quite well.

Newcastle 1 - 1 Wolves

We really need to start winning this type of game if we want to achieve anything. Nolan scored a good goal, but we couldn't find another after they scored.

Bolton 1 - 1 Newcastle

They scored early on from a corner, but a low skidded shot from Beckham gave us a share of the points. We chased more, but Guit got injured when we'd used all our subs, and then Taylor got sent off...

League Table - If I could chose to end the league now, I would. We might sneak up a couple of places, but it's much more likely we'll fall down some.

Star Performer

Joe Hart has been good again, but my discovery that Gutherie can actually play quite well has been a revelation

[weeeman27bob]

Season 2: There's going to be a Toon Army! - Part 3

Transfers

With it being out of the transfer window and all that, there were none of these

Results

Newcastle 1 - 0 West Ham

A nice, clinical finish by Jo secured three points, in revenge for our mauling at the start of the season.

Newcastle 0 - 3 Everton

As the scoreline shows, we didn't really do very well in this game. At all.

Newcastle 3 - 0 Burnley

Our third home game in a row, and a convincing win. Two goals on the break from Tafer, followed by a precise finish from Lansbury gave us the win.

Crystal Palace 3 - 1 Newcastle

With a tough run of games coming up, I thought we could secure three points here. I was mistaken. Despite taking the lead, we lost after a poor performance.

Newcastle 1 - 0 Chelsea

We managed a very impressive draw with them away, but it wasn't as impressive as this performance. A breakaway from Jo gave him all the time in the world to poke past Cech, and we managed to battle strongly in defensive to win an impressive three points.

Man City 0 - 2 Newcastle

The last performance might have been good, but this one was great. A crashing finish from Nolan in the first ten minutes gave us the lead. We clung on, facing shot after shot. With them throwing everything forward in the last through minutes, we countered, leaving Tafer with an easy finish past Given.

Newcastle 1 - 1 West Brom

Having beaten Chelsea and Man City in consecutive games, I could expect to win this one right? Seemingly not. They scored first, and we required a scrappy goal mouth scramble to take a share of the points.

Tottenham 2 - 1 Newcastle

Spurs are very much our bogey team. We conceded two goals in the first half, and were totally outplayed. Nolan crashed another long range goal, but it was too little, too late.

Birmingham 2 - 3 Newcastle

An important game this one. Anything but a loss would secure our place in top flight next season. We went two goals down in the first half, but Taylor headed home from a corner just before the interval. Jack Rodwell contrived to head into his own net early in the second half, before Tafer's squared ball for Jo finished our impressive comeback.

Newcastle 2 - 1 Sunderland

Taylor headed home from a corner for the second game in a row after a goalless first half. We then won a penalty, and with all my normal takers off the pitch, Coloccini stepped up to take it. Fortunately, he powered home. Cana scored in injury time for them, but it was but a consolation.

Liverpool 0 - 2 Newcastle

From the scoreline, this sounds like an impressive performance. However, there was no Gerrard or Torres in the Liverpool team. Nolan slotted home after 23 minutes, and that goal was followed shortly after by a sublime finish from Tafer. We hung on in the second half, but secured a wonderful victory.

Newcastle 0 - 1 Arsenal

We played very well, and a draw would have been a fair result. We held them off for most of the game, but Senderos jumped highest from a corner. We pressed hard, but couldn't find a goal.

Portsmouth 2 - 4 Newcastle

A nice game for the fans to finish off the season. An early goal from Fleck, two from Tafer and a long range finish from Nolan gave us a comfortable win.

Season summary to follow.

[brambleten]

Nice going keeping Newcastle up especially the victories over Sunderland. some others may be better or more important, but never sweeter.

can i just ask, are Aaron Spear and Hugo Vuckic still at the club? they arent premiership quality yet, but give them time, they'll come good

[weeeman27bob]

Season 2: Summary

I'll be doing one of these for every team I manage each season. So, if you can't be bothered to read the other updates, most of the stuff will be here.

Newcastle

Competitions

Premier League - A very impressive performance really. We had a tough start, but hit some good form at times during the season. We were predicted to finish 14th, so a 10th placed finish was very good. We were really very good against the big four and Man City, loosing only four out of the ten games. If we'd actually achieved something against some of the poor teams, we could have been close to a European spot.

FA Cup - A decent effort, but we went out to better opposition in Spurs going out in the fourth round

Carling Cup - Another decent effort, again, going out to Spurs in the fourth round.

http://www.screencast.com/users/weeman27bob/folders/Jing/media/036a9ee6-a895-423e-add2-82bdc0d19449

Joe Hart was a rock in goal all season, and without him, we weren't have been anywhere near the top half. He literally won us points on his own. Nobody else played in goal the whole season. He was, though, helped by the woodwork many a time. I've never seen the frame of the goal hit so much as in this season.

The centre of defence was dominated by Coloccini and Steven Taylor. They both played very well. Kadar and Lima also played quite well, but Kadar often filled in at left back. Enriqué and Ryan Taylor were both very good on the flanks, despite a big tendency to get injured.

There were really only 5 players who ever played in centre midfield. Beckham played almost all the games he was fit for, and chipped in with some good goals, especially from set pieces. Nolan played lots of games too and had some cracking long range goals. Guterie was the other candidate, although normally when one of the other two was unfit. In a more defensive role Patrick Vieria and Joey Barton both performed very well, especially against the bigger teams.

Henri Lansbury and John Fleck played the majority of the games on the wings. However, they are both young, and didn't really live up to my expectations at times. In the last few games of the season, Jo and Jonas played on the wings.

We excelled up front really. Jo played very well when called upon, but Tafer was excellent. 15 goals in 41 games was really quite impressive for a team of our quality. Lots of his goals came from one-on-ones with the keeper on the counter attack.

Star Performer

I'm not quite sure whether to chose Hart or Tafer for this. So I'll chose both

Next Season

Although we performed very well, I'm quite tempted to jump ship. We're under quite a lot of financial pressure. With all the prize money and what not, we're still in the red. We need quite a bit budget to really make the next step up, and I'm nor necessarily confident that we'll do as well next season.

There is a chance of Jobs going at Spurs, Man City, Man United, Villerael and Sevilla, and I'm tempted to apply. I think I'll wait and see what sort of budget I get though, before I try for somewhere else.

I will though be resigning as u21's boss after the Euros, as it's starting to get to the point where I don't know any of the players, and I'm losing interest, especially at managing really average regens.

[Saxonaitor]

Norwich 0 - 2 Newcastle (FA Cup)

Another comfortable victory, this time at League 1 Norwich. A lovely solo goal from Lansbury, and powerful header from Vieria took us through to the next round.

Just to let you know I have stopped reading now!

Good job keeping the Toon up.

[Nobby_McDonald]

8th. Stoke can but dream...