[FM10] I'm forever blowing bubbles!

[wattzy]

So....after failing at many attempts at lower league management on FM2010 I have decided to have one last crack before the new game with my beloved West Ham.

I'm not going to bore you with the brief history of the club, and ill get straight into it.

Before i start im using the 10.0.3 patch with Metal Guitatist's transfer update aswell as the new 25 man rule in the premiership.

West Ham United

The Club

The club itself is in a decent financial state to begin with and David Sullivan has been very generous with his £10 million transfer budget, however with a large squad and an £81 million loan it will be a struggle to keep this up! (I do however consider myself pretty good with finances, so this will show my true ability). With good training facilites and an excellent youth setup its definately possible to look towards the gems of the future, although i will go into that later. A stadium which can hold just under 35,000 means that whilst gate receipts alone wont earn me vast amounts of cash, they will provide me with a sound financial footing that can easily be built on.

The Squad

Taking charge at West Ham has seen me inherit a very capable squad with bags of potential. A few additions here and there to stengthen certain areas will enable me to assemble a very strong squad.

My preffered formation with the Hammers is a 4-2-4 formation (or 4-2-2-2) with 2 cm's and both an AM® and AM(L).

Instead of naming the whole squad, i will run through the key players in each area.

Key Players

Goalkeeper - Robert Green: At 29 years old, Robert has many a year between the sticks ahead of him. A reliable keeper who wont make many mistakes and can be relied upon by his defenders.

Defender - Matthew Upson: In his prime as a defender but maybe with only 2 seasons left in him in the prem. Reliable defender who's all round defending make him one of the first names on the team sheet.

Midfielder(s) Scott Parker: Superb midfielder, runs the show with his willingness to win the ball and his ability to get the ball to players in dangerous positions is second to none. Also has the ability to chip in with 1 or 2 of his own. Few years left in him still, but perhaps a younger replacement in the same mould is worth looking at next year.

and also - Thomas Hitzlsperger: Extremely creative with a great engine. Strong, determined and with a great left foot, 'der Hammer' can help boss the Hammers' midfield for many years to come!

Striker - Carlton Cole: The big man can always come good when relied upon and prop up at any time with a goal. At only 25 Carlton has room for great improvement, but is already an experienced forward who will help lead the club to glory!

And also worth a mention as a great all round player who is very versatile - Valon Behrami: A player who always attracts attention at the beginning of the game, Valon Behrami is a great player to have. Whilst extremely capable at both right back and centre mid, Valon can be pushed up to either flank, and even cover at centre back if needed! Young and ambitious so it will be a struggle to keep him happy, but is one of the players who can push the club to the next level.

Youth

As a West Ham fan i am very proud of the youth system the club posesses however it is no secret of the struggle the club has always faced in keeping hold of these gems. The youth in West Ham's team makes me excited about the future. With players such as Junior Stanislas, Zavon Hines, Jack Collison, James Tomkins already good enough for action, and players such as Jordan Spence, Marek Stech, Oliver Lee and Frank Nouble rapidly developing, the future looks bright.

[wattzy]

Transfer Activity

So, whilst the team posesses many great players, i set about adding to this. I looked more towards youth players to give the club more to look forward to. Whilst scouring through the hoardes of young talent, i came across Diego Biseswar of Feyenoord and Netherlands Under-21's of whom he is captain. A quick scout report from reliable scout Roger Cross confirmed his ability aswell as the firm possibility of making him a West Ham player. After some negotiations i managed to grab him for £5 million. Not a great deal of money for a young winger, and hopefully he develops to become a legend.

Diego Biseswar

In addition to Diego, i added 2 more young players who were recommended by my backroom team and scouts.

Rafael Talói joined for £3.5 mill and looks like a great prospect to partner either James Tomkins or Jordan Spence in the future, whilst Davide Petrucci joined from Manchester United for 950k. Not sure how he will turn out, but a good review from my scouts and a low price tag means that im pleased with the signing for now.

I managed to offload some deadwood and also loaned out most of the young stars, shown here: TransferActivity

Hope everyone is enjoying the read so far, im extremely open to suggestions on any improvements that can be made! Will post my pre-season results next before moving on to updates every 10 league matches. Thanks for reading up till now guys, stick with me

[wattzy]

Pre-season

This pre-season was all about gelling my team together, gaining fitness for the long season ahead, and trying out formations.

Results were as follows:

West Ham 2-0 West Ham reserves - Goals from Carlton Cole and Fred Piqquione saw us win, but i was encouraged by perfomances of Julien Faubert and Victor Obinna in the reserves.

Braga 1-1West Ham - Goal from Boa Morte put us in the lead but it wasnt enough, Diego Biseswar missed a panalty on his debut.

Belenenses 3-2 West Ham - Cole and Boa Morte put us 2-0 up, but an own goal by Rob Green saw it all fall apart and we were defeated.

Scunthorpe 2-2 West Ham - Goals from Victor Obinna and Cristiano Montano werent enough, and Danny Gabbidon saw red.

Wrexham 0-3 West Ham - Encouraging result as things seemed to be coming together althogh against weak opposition. A brace from Hitzlsperger and a goal from Matthias Fanimo improved the morale.

Ipswich 2-1 West Ham - 2 goals by Jason Scotland defeated us, Fred Piqquione bagged a consilation goal, but the game was marred by an injury to Thomas Hitzlsperger who was fortunately OK.

An OK pre-season. No serious injuries to anyone, and encouragine displays by the new boys means we go into the season optimistic. Heres a screenie of the formation i will be using and the squad i will be registering for the campaign, excluding Jack Collison who is injured till xmas.

Full Squad

Will update in 10 league games time, hope your enjoying my updates so far

Joe.

[Shrewsbury_howie]

Sounds good! a disappointing pre-season, but like you said, with no injuries it offered a good time for the team to gel. so! i wouldn't mind some screen shots of some of your youth?

[wattzy]

Sounds good! a disappointing pre-season, but like you said, with no injuries it offered a good time for the team to gel. so! i wouldn't mind some screen shots of some of your youth?

Exactly, results arent too important during pre-season i believe, and as long as morale is kept at a good level i see no problem with a few losses. Was great to see youngsters like Matthias Fanimo getting on the score sheet!

As requested, here is some screen shots of the youth players i believe will develop into tidy players judged by both their profiles and my coaches' reports on them.

Firstly, the players who already have some experience but look likely to develop much further.

Frank Nouble

Jordan Spence

Zavon Hines

Junior Stanislas - Probably my favourite of the academy products, always does the job for me from season 1.

And here are the few players who are rated by my coaches who, with some experience, will hopefully improve over the next few years.

Blair Turgott

Matthias Fanimo

Dominic Vose

Oliver Lee

[wattzy]

Apologies for taking a while to update, been a tad busy lately as it was my brother's wedding. I did earlier say i would update after 10 games, but i decided to delay until the beginning of January, so that is where i am as of right now.

So, as of the 5th of January 2010 i sit 10th in the Premier Division and remain in the FA cup (albeit the 4th round). I was knocked out of the League cup in the 4th round by Chelsea.

Half Season Summary

Premier Division

A good showing so far this season, particularly against the bigger clubs in the league. Sitting comfortably in 9th which is great as i had assured David Sullivan i would achieve a safe mid-table position. Mixed results across the board really, we tend to go on short unbeaten runs from 3-4 games before losing which has prevented any real build up of momentum. Again, here is the Premier Division league table and here are my results in the premier league so far: Results

Key Results

Some big results against top opposition were great for morale as well as overall happiness within the club and outside it. I'll run you through my biggest results of the season:

Manchester City 3-4 West Ham - Absolutely cracking game! After Piquionne put us 1 up in the first minute, Carlos Tevez did his usuall trick of ripping me to shreads and put the rich boys 2-1 up. A victor Obinna equaliser was quickly cancelled out by Adebayor, but a 78th minute penalty by Piquionne gave us a great lift, and subtitute Junior Stanislas made it 3-4 in the 83rd minute. (I'll take all the credit )

West Ham 4-1 Manchester United - I presume everyone will question if i cheated for this match! But i assure you i did not, it was merely an astonishing performance! An early Victor Obinna opener was cancelled out by a Wayne Rooney goal and at this point i though to myself "here we go again!" But after giving my team an instruction to stay on there feet in order to keep tight and not give United any space, we completely dominated! Boa Morte scored in first half injury time whilst Victor Obinna and Carton Cole completed the rout. The only low point came when Scott Parker received a second yellow card!

West Ham 6-1 Blackpool - Not hard opposition, but an outstanding performance which i felt necessary to comment on.

Also, draws against Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham were great points, especially with the way we were able to break down their defences.

Key Players

Victor Obinna - This guy has been sensational! 12 goals and 7 assists led to me signing him permanently as he had a £4 million buy clause in his loan. However, it appears the update im using means players signed in January cannot be registered! He's been my key player so ill have to update you on this one!

Carlton Cole - The big man has been brilliant! 17 goals, 9 assists and 5 MOM's makes him my star player so far. He came 3rd in the European Striker of the year award which was won by Nikola Zigic?.

The weakest area of my team has been the defence which has often leaked silly goals. This has lead to me constantly tinkering with who plays there, but the stand out man at the back so far has been Herita Ilunga.

Transfers

Matthew Upson got excited when Lyon and Sevilla expressed their interest, and as he wasnt playing well immediately dropped him and told him he may leave. He is currently discussing terms with Sevilla which would give me £5 million to spend on an experienced but younger defender (if this bloody registration thing works!)

As mentioned, i signed Victor Obinna for £4 mill, and a young Spanish regen from Osasuna for £3.8 called Inaki Sarasola. He scored a brace on his debut against Crystal Palace in the FA cup 3rd round which is very encouraging!

Thats all for now, will update again soon! I hope to see more replies as i feel the effort im putting into this thread deserves it

Thanks, Joe.

[Romanista1994]

Good luck with your career, you seem to have started pretty well. Great result against Manchester United btw.