[FM10] We all live in a yellow submarine, in Spotland but there's no Diego Maradona

[AcidBurn]

Game - FM09 patch 9.3

Database - Custom Update

Leagues Loaded - England to league two, Spain to second tier and Italy to second tier

Extra Players - Ultimate player retain file

Aim - To manage at several different clubs through a career spanning as long as possible

First club I choose to manage was Villarreal this was inspired by me being an avid fan of La Liga and all Spanish football. I also wanted to see if I could get Rossi and Nihat firing as a duo, I usually use a targetman and a quick striker but in these two players I see two great quick and skilful strikers.

Transfers Out

Guilhermo Franco £2.2 million to Hull City

Bruno £3 million to Racing

Marcos £2 million to Ipswich

Robert Flores £1 million to Auxerre

Diego Godin £9 million to Aston Villa

Sebastien Eguren £4 million to Napoli

I got to keep all money from transfers along with my transfer budget I got a total of £31 million to spend I switched £4 million into wages to give me a budget of £27.5 million and a wage budget that gave me 300k to play with.

Transfers In

Fernando Gago from Real Madrid loan fee of £1.3 million

Gonzalo Higuain from Real Madrid loan fee of £1.3 million

Roman Riquleme from Boca Juniors for £13.5 million

David Luiz from Benfica for £7.5 million

Leandro Gioda from Independiente for 500k

Daniel Aquino from Murcia for £2.9 million plus Leonardo Sigali

Gago was brought in as he could add some quality to the midfield is good going forward and reasonably good defensively. He would be paired with the great Riquelme who despite his age and temperament would be a great signing although he was probably £3 million more than I wanted to pay. The defence was sorted with Gioda being cheap, quick, good in the air with decent mental attributes in all the right areas. His partner would be David Luiz a big strong young Brazilian CB who could only get better as time goes on. Daniel Aquino a young Spanish player with huge potential and is great at AML or upfront.

Started off with a 4-4-2 the two new defenders featured as backup to the young Ivan Marcano and Gonzalo Rodriguez. Our line up would be for most games.

We would play through Riquelme and use the pace of Carzola and Higuain to feed the ball to Rossi and Nihat. Diego Lopez is a solid GK and the fullbacks would be encouraged to rampage forward and I wanted fast attacking football.

UEFA Cup

Our UEFA Cup run was great as we attacked our way to the final but were beaten 2-1 by Lyon. This loss was extra annoying for me as I had never won the UEFA Cup with any team on FM09 before. Riquelme was the best player in this tournament and he scored lots of goals especially any freekick with 30 yards.

Copa Del Rey

Villarreal 3 Cadzi 0 - Senna, Rossi and Riquelme

Villarreal 5 Cadiz 2 - Nihat, Llorente, Senna and Riquelme x2

Villarreal 2 Zaragoza 4 - Rossi and Senna

Villarreal 4 Zaragoza 0 - Marcano, Rodriguez and Rossi x2

Villarreal 2 Atletico Madrid 3 - Senna and Rodriguez

Villarreal 0 Atletico Madrid 2

Disappointing to only make the quarter final. Senna was amazing in this competition, I had wanted to make at least the next round but the comeback against Zaragoza was a high point of the season.

La Liga

91 points was great but Madrid were just too strong for us we lost 3-1 to them away and only managed a draw at home. Overall I was impressed with the way the team performed attacking with class and skill scoring over 80 goals if the defence was a bit better we could have won the league but 99 points of Madrid would be very hard to catch. Next season would be a good challenge with a few more signings we could get closer to the league title and maybe make a decent run in the Champions League.

My player of the season

1. Roman Riquelme - Assists and goals galore despite his age Riquelme gave the side 21 goals and 28 assists. He created most of our goals as the playmaker he started a lot of moves off as we played through his skills

2. Rossi and Nihat - I know its two players but upfront they were brilliant as a partnership with 57 goals and 34 assists between them. I think Rossi was slightly better but together they dominated the opposition defence with their pace and skill.

Gonzalo Rodriguez - Solid in defence all season scored a few goals as well but is attracting the interest of Arsenal, Barcelona, Man United and Real Madrid, could be hard to keep hold of him.

Best Results of the Season

Villarreal 4 Zaragoza 0 - Great comeback after being 4-2 down from the first leg, we set up as attacking as possible and went for the throat it was an easy game and we had 31 shots and 6 clear cut chances.

Villarreal 5 Atletico Madrid 3 - Great back and forth game the ended with a Rossi hattrick and two for Nihat. We went 3-1 down at one stage but a good team talk lead to us dominating for the whole second half and we could have scored 8.

Villarreal 4 Aston Villa 1 - Great game with Riquelme scoring two 30 yard freekicks and Cani scoring a great one on one. Higuain bagged the last goal as we beat the English team who were sitting in 3rd place at the time.

Worst Results of the Season

Villarreal 0 Getafe 4 - Terrible Getafe were in 15th place but we went to their ground and they beat us 4-0 with ease and we barely had a shot at goal.

Villarreal 1 Real Madrid 3 - We could have put a dent in their title hope with a win but instead we didn't turn up and they won easily in what could have been embarrassing.

Villarreal 0 Atletico Madrid 2 - Ended our Copa Del Rey run and was just plain annoying.

Hopefully the next season can bring some good results and a real crack at a trophy.

[Elrithral]

Got to be gutted with a league return of 91, but no title. Nice to see you brought Riquelme back, he's immense.

Good luck AB.

[iacovone]

AcidBurn, good to see another career get started! Good luck with this I'll be following your progress.

Excellent first season in the league. As Elrithral says you must be frustrated to not to take the title with that points return!

[MeLikeFM]

Were you Villareal last year aswell or am I imagining that :confused:

Great first season, any targets to replace Riquelme long term ?

[AcidBurn]

Getting 91 points and no title is very annoying.

I was indeed Villarreal the last time I posted on here decided to start again though. There are a few replacements lined up for Riquelme but to be honest I doubt I will be manager here long enough to worry about replacing him.

[Nobby_McDonald]

I don't get the relevance to Spotland in the thread title.

[Raware]

Didn't you have a thread similar to this before? Villareal and named "we all live in a yellow submarine"? Just wondered.

It's gonna be tough breaking the big two in Spain. Anywhere else and 91 points would've surley guaranteed you the title. Good to see Riquelme back and a couple of other good signings too in Higuain and Gago. Looks like your front two have started pretty well and are on their way to "firing as duo".

[hursty2]

I don't get the relevance to Spotland in the thread title.

Spotland is Rochdale's ground so I dunno if that has any meaning to it...

[AcidBurn]

I don't get the relevance to Spotland in the thread title.

You soon will do don't worry.

Didn't you have a thread similar to this before? Villareal and named "we all live in a yellow submarine"? Just wondered.

It's gonna be tough breaking the big two in Spain. Anywhere else and 91 points would've surley guaranteed you the title. Good to see Riquelme back and a couple of other good signings too in Higuain and Gago. Looks like your front two have started pretty well and are on their way to "firing as duo".

This thread is actually my career for that same save although this one ended up going a little bit differently.

[AcidBurn]

Second Season Update

Transfers Out

Nilmar £10 million to Sevilla

Gonzalo Rodriguez £35 million to Arsenal

Although Rodriguez was my best defender last season he was unsettled and I always sell unsettled players. Due to the monthly payments Arsenal were easily ripped off for £35 million, I felt a bit bad because Rodriguez had 2 caps when Arsenal bit so I said I wanted £15 million plus £20 million after one cap and they accepted. Nilmar hardly played last season and when Sevilla bid £10 million out of the blue I accepted. Along with the transfer budget I already had this gave me £35 million to play with once I had balanced my wage budget.

Transfers In

Rafael Van der Vaart £8 million from Real Madrid

Seitaridis £2.5 million from Hull City

Fabian Monzon £6.5 from Boca Juniors

Hernanes £8.5 million from Sao Paolo

Ben Haim £4.2 million from Man City

I couldn't get a replacement for Rodriguez but David Luiz and Marcano would form my CB pairing for the upcoming season. Ben Haim was brought in as backup for these two as he was good in the air and a reasonable price at the time. Seitardis and Monzon were brought in to play rightback and leftback both were very good attacking and could defend pretty well to. Hernanes I got because of his versatility he can play all attacking midfield positions as well as DMC and CM and for that price he is well worth the money. So can the signings help in the upcoming champions league assault and La Liga mission.

January Transfers

Craig Gordon £4.5 million from Sunderland

Diego Capel £14.75 million from Sevilla

Hatem Ben Arfa £13.25 million from Marseille

Rodriguez was capped and this meant we got an extra £20 million after messing with the wage budget and selling a few reserve players I got the money to make 3 major signings. Craig Gordon as competition for Diego Lopez and Capel and Ben Arfa as they are both quick wingers that can play on either flank. I did think it was a risk to unsettle the squad mid season but I hoped these players could help us in an attempt to win the league title. The strongest 11 for the season would be.

Copa Del Rey

4th Round 1st leg - Cueta 0 Villarreal 8

4th Round 2nd leg - Villarreal 9 Cueta 0

5th Round 1st leg - Villarreal 0 Espanyol 1

5th Round 2nd leg - Espanyol 1 Villarreal 4

Quarter Finals 1st leg - Real Madrid 0 Villarreal 2

Quarter Finals 2nd leg - Villarreal 0 Real Madrid 0

Semi Finals 1st leg - Villarreal 1 Barcelona 1

Semi Finals 2nd leg - Barcelona 2 Villarreal 0

Disappointed to go out in the semi's especially after beating Real Madrid who were a lot stronger than Barcelona or at least I thought so. Still there's always next season I suppose, this is a competition I have never won without being Barcelona so I really wanted to go all the way.

Champions League

Disappointment to go out again in the semi finals of another cup. We finished top of our group over Juventus by 1 point as we got 13, they got 12 and CSKA got 10 with Sparta Prague being the whipping boys of the league. Great draw in an easy win over Shakhtar, after that we beat Barcelona to get revenge on them knocking us out of the Copa Del Rey. AC Milan were just too strong and they easily beat us over 2 legs, looks like another target for next season now.

La Liga

Total disappointment in the league I was expecting us to do better than last season but were were 11 points worse off with less goals scored and more let in. The strange thing was I had changed to try and get a better defence but it backfired and ended up being worse. I think going far in all the competitions meant I played my best players at times when I should have rested them.

Best Results of the Season

Villarreal 3 Barcelona 2 - Great performance Barcelona were outplayed and scored two lucky goals we had 15 shots to there 4. We should have won by a bigger margin but it didn't matter as a win over our rivals even in the Champions League is always fun.

Barcelona 0 Villarreal 0 - Another great performance for different reasons, David Luiz and Marcano kept Messi, Henry and Eto'o at bay despite several clear cut chances for Barcelona, Diego Lopez played brilliantly after regaining his first team position from new man Craig Gordon.

Real Madrid 0 Villarreal 2 - A win at Madrid was unlikely but in a close game we had Hernanes to thank as he scored a 30 yard screamer and then Marcelo unluckily for Madrid headed into his own net to give us a great win.

Worse Results of the Season

Barcelona 2 Villarreal 0 - This match knocked us out of the Copa Del Rey at the semi final stage. We were outplayed and showed no fight at all. Messi scored after a great run and finish then Xavi scored a long range goal as Barcelona defeated us and went on to beat Sevilla 2-0 in the final a team we had never lost to.

Villarreal 1 Racing 2 - A loss at home against weak opposition was not good this happened in September and summed up our inconsistency that cost us dearly in the league. If we had won this game we may have gone on a run of wins which is what we needed but Racing were the better team.

Villarreal 1 AC Milan 2 - Second leg defeat at home was hard to take although we were outplayed we had only lost 1-0 in the first leg. I was expecting us as we often do to storm back at home and win the game but that never happened even Rossi and Nihat went missing again as we crashed out.

My Players of the Season

1. Ivan Marcano - The young CB got into double figures for goals with 11 and was great defensively his partnership with David Luiz was beginning to blossom. Finished the season with the second highest average rating and regularly kept some great strikers from scoring.

2. Rossi - Highest average rating mainly because of the return of 22 goals and 15 assists in 40 games. Scored less than last season but on his day still destroyed alot of opposition defences, will be hoping to keep hold of him for next season as interest is getting higher and higher.

3. Daniel Aquino - Got only 6 goals but along with 13 assists he was a big threat on the left wing and easily adapted to playing upfront if Nihat or Rossi were injured. I am certain that he can become a world class player as his stats have shot up higher and higher over this season.

Best Squad of the Season

Loads of players under performed, I was hoping Van der Vaart would maybe become a transition between Riquelme and a really young player but one goal all season was pathetic.

Targets for Next Season

1. Do better in the league.

2. Win something, anything will do.

3. Sign an unhappy Bojan from Barcelona, after all the praising I have done I hope to get him.

4. Improve goals scored.

5. Improve goals conceded.

6. Sign Luka Modric, another player I have been praising has a steep price but Spurs are under performing and he is unhappy.

Big list I know but I feel I can achieve most of them if not all. I know I can win something if I get a good draw.

[iacovone]

Don't you dare steal my beloved Luka Modric

[AcidBurn]

Don't you dare steal my beloved Luka Modric

Sorry but I think I may already have him lol. Might be able to grab him for £20 million great price.

[iacovone]

Fair enough . Never had him on FM but if he's anything like he is IRL you'll be signing a little genius

[crouchaldinho]

As I know a little bit about your career Acidburn, I know the significance of the title and I love it.

Looking forward to reading this again and catching up with any new updates.

[Nobby_McDonald]

Spotland is Rochdale's ground so I dunno if that has any meaning to it...

I know that!

[Nobby_McDonald]

You soon will do don't worry.

This thread is actually my career for that same save although this one ended up going a little bit differently.

So I presume you go from Villareal to Rochdale to somewhere where Maradona either played or coached.

[AcidBurn]

Third Season Update

Transfers Out

Rafael Van der Vaart £15 million to Sampdoria

Cani £2.5 million to Zaragoza

Diego Capel £35 million to Roma

Van der Vaart was poor last season so when Sampdoria offered I had to get rid of him. Cani was less than a bit part player so £2.5 million was worth it to get his 30k wages off the budget. Diego Capel never really shone in his short time with my squad but attracted interest from the best clubs on the game I offered him out for £40 million but only Roma offered and they offered £35 million so once again I had to accept.

Transfers In

Ruben Rochina £2 million from Recreativo

Ignacio Camacho £11 million from At. Madrid

Vincent Kompany £5 million from Man City

Bojan £25 million from Barcelona

I wanted to add some more Spanish players to my squad so I got the young striker Rochina in for a reasonable price as he has loads of potential. Kompany and Camacho were brought in to toughen up the midfield now that Senna was getting on a bit. Bojan was the big signing of the summer, unhappy at not playing at Barcelona he cost a great deal but is a player I always try to get when I am a big team.

Jan Transfers

Ronaldinho £6 million from AC Milan

Daniel Opare 500k from Real Madrid

Luka Modric £20 million from Spurs

Opare is a young powerful RB and was very cheap I couldn't not sign him for that money as I have seen him become awesome on several games. Ronaldinho can play through the middle on either side and upfront he may be showing his age but as a bench player he is a great addition. Luka Modric was signed for a great price on the last day of the transfer window, I had unsettled him for the best part of a year until he handed in a transfer request.

Strongest Line Up

This would be the starting 11 up until Jan and then Modric would take the place of Aquino on the left although in his 6 months he was injured for 6 weeks on his debut and 2 weeks after coming back from his injury.

Copa Del Rey

4th Round 1st leg - Linares 0 Villarreal 4

4th Round 2nd leg - Villarreal 5 Linares 0

5th Round 1st leg - Deportivo 1 Villarreal 4

5th Round 2nd leg - Villarreal 4 Deportivo 2

Quarter Finals 1st leg - Valencia 1 Villarreal 2

Quarter Finals 2nd leg - Villarreal 2 Valencia 2

Semi Finals 1st leg - Villarreal 0 Real Madrid 1

Semi Finals 2nd leg - Real Madrid 1 Villarreal 1

Another semi final defeat was extremely annoying but it was against a very strong Madrid team.

Champions League

Champions League run was pretty poor I was hoping for a semi final at least to match last season but it just didn't happen. We finished top of our group but were still somehow thumped 4-1 by Zenit, that results sums up the disappointment of the competition.

La Liga

La Liga was very annoying a huge 96 points and no title. The head to head results(which Spain goes on before goal difference)were a 1-0 defeat away and a 2-1 win at home but their superior goal difference bagged them the title. This is the most annoying thing I have ever experienced on any FM, I almost threw my keyboard out of the window.

Best Results of the Season

1. Villarreal 4 At. Madrid 1 - A great game with goals from Rossi, Monzon, Carzola and Marcano. It was a great attacking performance especially as I always struggle with At. Madrid on every game I play but this time we truly destroyed them I think they had 3 shots on goal all game.

2. Deportivo 1 Villarreal 4 - Bojan, Rossi, Riquelme and a debut goal from Ronaldinho put us through int he Copa Del Rey by ending this two legged match before it had even started.

3. Villarreal 2 Barcelona 1 - Great stuff as Marcano gave us a 1-0 lead with a powerful header until Messi equalised. In the 94th minute Riquelme scored a 30 yard freekick to give us the win just brilliant.

Worst Results of the Season

1. Villarreal 0 Real Sociedad 1 - Ended our title hopes, this game was the 3rd last league game of the season and we lost at home to a team we are superior to in every way. If we had of even drawn this game thee title would have been ours.

2. Zenit 4 Villarreal 1 - Pathetic display as the Russians dominated the game all the way through. We had already qualified but this was the worst display I had ever had as a manager.

3. Real Madrid 1 Villarreal 0 - A head to head game we had the better of the match and if we had of scored one goal the title would have been ours. Its easy to talk about if's and but's this match was very important and we didn't show up.

My Players of the Season

1. Rossi - bagged 34 goals in 44 games won matches single handedly for the team with an average of 7.43 he was the best player I had. Also one of the best strikers I have ever managed.

2. Riquelme - 12 goals and 30 assists was brilliant, made up for last season where he under performed. Was a great player despite of his age 30 assists is awesome but he started more and more moves off and was at his peak.

3. Bojan - His first season brought 26 goals in 53 games with 18 assists. Formed a great partnership with Rossi and replaced Nihat as the second main striker in the team.

Team of the year with no real surprises, I think Modric would have been in it if he had of stayed fit as despite his lack of appearance he still got 8 assists in 10 games.

Quitting

After grabbing 96 points and not winning anything I decided that I had taken Villarreal as far as I could. So before the new season started I handed in my resignation and decided to take a holiday until December and see what jobs were on offer. Although from the title people might guess where I go, the thing is why would I go to Rochdale from Villarreal? From Champions League to League One must be more to it lol.

[AcidBurn]

As I know a little bit about your career Acidburn, I know the significance of the title and I love it.

Looking forward to reading this again and catching up with any new updates.

I thought with your insider knowledge you might like the title lol.

So I presume you go from Villareal to Rochdale to somewhere where Maradona either played or coached.

That sir would be correct.

[iacovone]

Look forward to the Napoli chapter

[Nobby_McDonald]

Do you have insider knowledge?

[iacovone]

I don't. I'm a gambling man Nobby!